Roses and Wolves
by WinterRonin
Summary: Please read 'A Wolf Among the Roses' first, its the prequel to this one. With the new year of Beacon starting it brings a fresh batch of students. Ruby and Yang being two of them. Of course with a new year brings new problems for Eli and Beacon itself. Some problems though cross the line between personal and professional.
1. Chapter 1

Alright, this was a little longer than I would have liked but I spent more time than I'm happy to admit trying to think of a half decent name for this and even now I'm not a hundred percent. But let me know if you like the name or not, or if you have better ideas. Don't want to get twenty chapters in to change it.

Right one last thing if you are reading this than I would recommend that you read 'A Wolf Among the Roses' first as it is the prequel to this story and a lot of it you would not understand if you have not read it. Since this is a slight AU.

* * *

As a Wolf Faunus, Eli was often used to being on the difficult end of things but often he would be dropped into a situation that was something he had not expected by a long shot.

He walked into a Vale police station after being called late at night by Ozpin and Glynda because of an incident with his daughter. Walking over to the nearest officer he flashed his ID and he pointed down the hall where he could pick up on a strong familiar coffee smell that always seemed to hang around Ozpin.

Of course, the officer tried to hide it but he had been a little intimidated by the tall, black-haired man who even though he had given him a pleasant smile in greeting, he still had the look of someone who could beat him into the ground.

Seeing Ozpin waiting outside a room he could already take a guess that Ruby had done something outlandish if she had gotten the attention of her god-mother and Ozpin.

Eli sighed Ozpin filled him in on why Ruby was here as they waited outside the interrogation room where his step-daughter had been put, after stopping an armed robbery by herself.

Which, while impressive to him, had annoyed Glynda due to having to step in to stop any innocent people from getting injured because Ruby had let the fight stay on the streets before going to a nearby rooftop. Something which she would have done anyway, but she would not say that to anyone. She was a very proud woman.

"Thanks again Ozpin for giving me the heads up on this. I'd rather deal with it before Summer finds out and has my head. I honestly don't know what's been going on with those two lately. They seem to attract trouble." he said gently scratching his wolf-ear, only getting a smile from Ozpin as he drank his coffee.

Yang had been in an altercation in some nightclub she had snuck into. Long story short over a dozen armed men had been beaten up by a teenage girl and then she had trashed two bouncers, huntsman level, and then smacked the owner out of the window.

Honestly, they did not know whether to be angry or proud that she had done it. But needless to say, Tai and Raven, where dealing with her.

"Think nothing of it, Eli. I must admit I am impressed with the efforts of young Miss Rose." Ozpin said as they waited outside the room.

"Yeah you can thank Qrow for that…all the weapons to choose from and she chose a scythe of all things to have as a weapon. Besides saying that they are cool, I cannot argue with the results, she might even outshine Qrow someday." he chuckled as they were allowed to pass through the checkpoint that the Vale police department had them go through.

On the other side of the door, he heard Glynda say that she would have sent Ruby back home with a pat on the back and a slap on the wrist.

Which made him laugh inside as Glynda was Ruby's godmother as well as Luna's, the daughter that he and Summer had together.

And knew she would be the first to spoil her on her birthday besides Summer and Tai.

Ever since he had discovered that she and Qrow were an item he had been more than happy to appoint them as babysitters when they had spare time, which was even funnier than it sounded.

* * *

"Come on Glynda! Haven't got all night." a voice called through the door in a teasing tone, making Ruby go rigid.

"You called my dad!?" she whispered harshly, "Why?" she groaned, letting her head impact the table in frustration, knowing that it would take all her skill of manipulating her father to avoid her mother from finding out and stopping what would be the longest period of being grounded she had ever had.

As the door opened she saw her step-father, Eli Frost, walk in and with him was Professor Ozpin of Beacon, holding a plate of cookies and a coffee cup.

"Well, Ruby…care to explain why I was woken up in the middle of the night and called down to VPD headquarters?" Eli asked her, "And Qrow isn't even in Vale at the moment so I was curious." he and Ruby snickered as Glynda glared at him.

"Well I kinda got into a fight with…" she mumbled off but Eli caught it, it was hard to mumble around with him with his sharp hearing. That and he already knew anyway, he just wanted her to say it.

"Roman Torchwick? That it?" he asked getting a slow nod from Ruby, "Damn Rubes. You sure know how to make an impression." Eli said, praising Ruby for taking on Roman Torchwick of all people.

Ozpin talked to Ruby for a moment, seemingly ignoring Eli and Glynda having a small argument about Ruby's actions in the background, however, they stopped when Ozpin offered Ruby a place at Beacon. For the start of the new year of students.

"What?" Eli snapped his head round, "Oz can I have a word with you?" Eli asked calmly, all but dragging his boss and friend out of the room and into the hall, making sure the door was closed behind him.

"Have you switched to decaf? Because Ruby is still two years away from going to Beacon. She hasn't even finished at Signal yet." Eli said trying to make sense of Ozpin's choice to offer Ruby early admission.

"Don't you have faith in her skills?" Ozpin asked, knowing full well that Eli would defend his daughter, and he was right.

"I don't lack faith in her skills as a huntress. Her weapon combined with her semblance makes her a force to be reckoned with but from an educational point of view, she will be missing out on two years of material that she would get from Signal. I don't want her to get too far out of her depth, every other student will have an advantage over her and…" Eli started before stopping, his gaze leveling at Ozpin.

"You said when you first talked with her in there that she had Silver Eyes. You want her to do the same as Summer don't you?" Eli secretly cursed the day that Ozpin and Qrow explained everything to him, about the maidens, the Grimm, and the Silver Eyed Warriors. It had taken him nearly a month to look at Summer normally again.

"Eli I know you don't approve of some of my methods, but Ruby needs to be trained to be the best huntress she can be. Other forces at work will not wait two years for her to enter Beacon on her own." Ozpin told Eli, his voice betraying the seriousness of the situation.

"You will be with her for the next four years Eli, I know you will make sure she has the support she needs. She has four parents, all accomplished hunters and huntress's, two of which are teachers." Eli stayed silent before nodding.

"Your right…your crafty but your right. If you want to do it go ahead but I'm not telling Summer. That can be you." Eli said cracking a smile, he sure as hell wasn't going to do it. Ozpin could explain it all to Summer, he had enough on his plate at the moment anyway.

Walking back into the room he gave a nod of his head to Ruby, "Come on kiddo. Let's get you home." nodding she hopped off her chair, giving Glynda a quick hug on the way out. Getting a small blush from the woman, while she tried to keep her teaching persona on at all times, all it took was a hug or smile from Ruby to break her. Though in Eli's opinion Luna was worse.

* * *

It was a few days later and a number of calls from Summer as Eli waited for the new year of students to arrive. Ruby and Yang included.

He would be directing them to the hall where they would be bedding down for the night before their initiation the next day. He had been questioning himself about telling the girls not to mention their relation to him, at least not just blurting it out, otherwise, it could cause trouble.

Some students may give them a hard time for being related to a teacher, everyone wanted them to have a normal school experience.

He had arrived at the auditorium where he heard Ozpin giving his speech as he walked in and headed up onto the stage as Ozpin finished. Checking that it had taken a little longer than he had thought to get all the students in, it was now quite late in the afternoon.

"Everyone! Attention please, if you'll follow me I will show you to where you'll be bunking for the night. And I would highly recommend you don't cause trouble…it would be very unwise." Eli announced as he headed up through the crowd of students as they started to follow him.

"My name is Eli Frost, I will be a teacher of yours here for the next four years. I also would not recommend picking a fight on your first day here, either against a student or teacher. Because I do have authority from Ozpin himself to get involved if I have too." as they left the auditorium he checked the new message in his scroll from Glynda.

 _Ruby had a small incident in the main quad. She had a run in with Weiss Schnee._

Eli groaned internally as they reached the hall where the students would sleep.

"Alright find a place and settle down. Lights out are at ten. The canteen is just down the hall if you are hungry, I'll be back in thirty minutes to check on you." heading back down the hall to make a call.

"Hello dear. Are Ruby and Yang alright?" Summer asked as Eli held back a laugh.

"I'm fine too. But they're fine, Ruby had a run in with Weiss Schnee according to Glynda. Maybe shook her confidence a bit." Eli said but he knew that Ruby would bounce back.

"Winter's sister? Maybe she just needs time. You did say she said that Weiss was somewhat of a perfectionist. So maybe she just needs some time to settle in. Besides they might not even be on the same team." Summer said and Eli hoped that Weiss was nowhere near Ruby or Yang. They did not deserve to have to deal with a spoilt brat for four years.

"I wouldn't hold my breath…but I'll keep an eye on them, I promise." he said as he heard Summer giggle.

"Remember to send me pictures if you can. I want to see my girls in action." Summer almost pleaded which just made Eli laugh. Ever since she found out that Ruby was joining Yang at Beacon she had been bouncing around in excitement. Something he enjoyed thinking about.

* * *

"Yang…do we have to pretend we don't know him?" Ruby asked her sister, in regards to Eli. When she first saw him she wanted to hug him, he was so proud of her and she knew it but she just wanted to hug him.

"I don't think we should preach it to the whole school, we could just act like normal students. Besides it's not like we'll never see him." Yang said trying to reassure her sister, while she loved Tai there was a bond between Ruby and Eli that was just as strong. Everyone saw it.

"I know…but…" Ruby started to say but let out a sigh, she knew being at Beacon was going to be different than Signal but she knew she could do it.

"Besides Rubes you can make a lot of new friends and it won't be much of a problem will it? I mean what about Jaune and that girl who helped you earlier?" Yang hoped to cheer her up after she exploded in the academy grounds.

"Look isn't that her now?" Yang asked, pointing to the black haired and amber eyed girl who was setting up her sleeping bag next to the wall, before pulling out a thick book.

* * *

Blake had decided to read a few chapters of her book before getting a bite to eat, it was one she had been waiting to enjoy for a while, but it was interrupted by the same young girl she had seen in the quad.

She tried not to look, keeping her focus on her book instead. But seeing her strangely beautiful silver eyes and looking so shy and adorable, it made it impossible.

"Can I help you?" she asked trying to sound as calm and monotone as possible, partly because she really wanted to just hug the young girl. It was part of her she wished she had better control over, she had a soft spot for cuteness.

"Um…my name is Ruby. I just wanted to thank you for earlier. I didn't get a chance to, you know back in the quad." she said as Yang gave her the thumbs up and introduced herself.

"It's not a problem. But just try not to set her off in the future. She seems like the sort with a short fuse." Blake said calmly as Ruby smiled warmly at her.

"Crap! Ruby, you need to call Luna, you said you'd call her once we got here." Yang suddenly cut in and Ruby quickly realised that she did not have her scroll with her and neither did Yang. They would be given scrolls to use during their four years here which also acted as keys to their dorm rooms.

"I almost forgot…but we don't get our scrolls until we get assigned teams." she lamented, "Do you think we could ask…?" Ruby started to question her sister but Yang just shook her head.

"Use a public terminal Rubes…" Yang said as she saw Blake's confused look, "Sorry. Luna is our little sister.".

"Must be nice having a sibling, let alone two." Blake said looking at the two sisters as they tried to figure out how they could call their sibling. Ruby gave Blake one last thanks before rushing out of the room to find a public terminal.

"Sorry…she is really trying to be the best sister ever. That's meant to be my job." Yang chuckled as she sat down next to Blake, "Where are you from then Blakey? Ruby and I are from Patch, though we go to and from Vale a bit.".

Blake took a moment to think of an answer before speaking, "Vacuo." she was a little hesitant to answer but just seemed happy to say anything to continue the conversation.

"Wow that's hot…but can I ask why come to Beacon?" Yang asked as Blake turned the book she was reading over and placed it on her lap.

"Yang…I'm sorry but don't you think that's a little personal? We have just met and while you seem friendly enough I don't really know you all that well." Blake admitted, trying to sound friendly enough so she does not end up insulting Yang.

"True…but I'll bring you around Blake. We'll be the best of buds." she laughed as Ruby ran back in and skidded to a stop.

"I couldn't find…phew sorry." Ruby said regaining her balance, "I couldn't find a terminal Yang." even with all the running she had clearly been doing Blake was surprised that Ruby was not really out of breath.

"You found some cookies though didn't you?" Yang asked giving her sister a questioning look, "Cut back past the cafeteria?" she could tell Ruby was about to deny it but Yang reached over and brushed some crumbs away from the corner of Ruby's mouth.

The three of them laughed and Blake for a moment hoped that she would be on the same team as at least one of the sisters, she knew it would be easier for her to get through the next four years if she could get along with her team.

* * *

Once night had fallen and the students were asleep, Eli made one last check before turning in for the night himself, he had been going over student documents so he knew what he could expect from them. And while some had promise others were less than impressive.

"I'll speak to Ozpin in the morning about it…something isn't right about those documents." he mumbled to himself as he nursed a cup of coffee while drinking it late at night was not the ideal thing to do, he was almost asleep on his feet at the moment.

"Eli…" he heard a whisper from the door and saw a set of silver eyes looking at him.

"Ruby you should be asleep." he said quietly, not wanting to wake anyone, "You've got to get your rest for tomorrow. Big day after all.".

"Could you apologise to Luna for not calling her…I couldn't find a public terminal and I don't have a scroll…" Eli could tell she was getting upset at not being able to call but Eli just waved it off.

"I already called her for you Ruby. She understands. Now go to sleep. You're going to need it, trust me." he said before taking a mouthful of coffee.

"Thanks…dad." Ruby said being careful to be very quiet when she said it, "See you later.".

"No problem, be sure to do your best tomorrow." Eli said as he waited until Ruby had disappeared back inside the hall before continuing on his way to his room.

Part of him did not want to pretend Ruby was just another student but he knew that she deserved a normal time at Beacon without other students treating her differently because her father was a teacher.

He sighed to himself, it was going to be a long four years.

* * *

The next morning while the students were getting ready Eli headed up to speak to Ozpin.

"Eli what can I do for you? I thought you'd be getting ready to watch the initiation this morning." Ozpin said from his desk.

"I was hoping you could shine some light on this student…because there is a lot of pieces that do not make any sense. Like being in two schools at the same time…" Eli said dropping the file onto Ozpin's desk before sitting down.

"Oh yes…. I can understand your concerns but rest assured I would not have accepted Mr. Arc into Beacon if I did not believe he could not achieve his own success here." he explained, earning a groan of annoyance from Eli.

"He's green Oz. Even Luna has more training than he does. Whoever he is on a team with is going to be picking up the slack for the next four years. Is it fair to them that they will be watching his back, while he may not be able to watch theirs?" Eli argued, "If you have a plan for all this Oz then, by all means, fill me in. Because this kid might end up being a danger to his whole team.".

"Your right…but trust me, Eli. Mr. Arc will surprise you, while he may not match the others in their fighting abilities I do believe he will excel elsewhere." Ozpin said with such confidence in his voice that part of Eli actually believed him.

"Alright, I'll go along with this Oz…I'm not happy with it but I will say this…" Eli said getting to his feet, "If so much as one student gets hurt because of him then we will be having this conversation again." Eli said before leaving and part of Ozpin hoped that he would not have a repeat of this conversation.

* * *

After being launched off the top of the cliff and into the Emerald Forest, Ruby thought that she might not have the best of luck ahead of her as she hit a bird after being catapulted into the air.

She managed to land in the forest after using Crescent Rose to slow her descent with the help of a couple of tree's, of course, said tree's now had large cuts in them.

She wanted to either find Yang or Blake as she hurried through the forest. Before they had headed out to the launch pads she had another run-in with Weiss and needless to say it did not end well, in fact, she thought it may have been worse than their first meeting in the quad when she exploded because of her shaking dust in her face.

She really did not want to be on the same team as Weiss, it was clear that she had made the heiress hate her and did not want to deal with that for four years.

"Please let me find Yang or Blake…Please." honestly she would be happy with anyone but Weiss, she would be hard to deal with in the long run and if she ever found out about Luna. She knew Eli had said Winter Schnee was a nice enough person but Weiss had made herself stand out as a spoilt rich girl. According to Yang at least.

Stepping out into a clearing while she was still deep in thought she came face to face with her partner.

* * *

Leaving the partner as a mystery for the time being. But some people might be able to figure it out. Maybe. Possibly.


	2. Chapter 2

Alright, next chapter took a little longer than I would have liked but it's up now. Saying that I would like to say that the next chapter will be out sometime towards the end of the month, barring anymore problems being dropped into my lap. At the moment I have to fix my PC or completely replace it, I've got driving lessons to book along with work and trying to get over a rather persistent cold.

So lots of fun...

* * *

Silver met amber as Ruby looked at Blake and gave her a warm smile. She fought off the urge to catapult herself at Blake and hug the older girl but instead walked across the small clearing that separated them.

"Oh, Blake! You do not know how happy I am to see you." Ruby cheered as she rested Crescent Rose over her shoulder.

"Ruby…I must admit I am happy to be paired with someone I know at least. Honestly, I was hoping for either you or Yang." Blake admitted as she kept her katana sheathed only for Ruby to slowly become fixated on it.

"Sorry…I really shouldn't be staring. I just, kinda have a thing for weapons. So cool…" Ruby laughed nervously, hoping that she just did not scar Blake for life by being so weird around her.

"It's alright. I'll let you look at it if you like?" Blake smiled as she watched Ruby's eyes light up with joy. She did not believe that eyes could have dazzled like that. And she briefly wondered if letting her look at Gambol Shroud was a good idea.

"But I really think we should start heading towards the ruins to pick up these relics. Hopefully, we don't run into too much trouble along the way." Ruby nodded in agreement and pointed in the direction of the ruins.

"How do you know they are that way?" Blake wondered as Ruby just laughed nervously as if she really did not want to admit something.

"Well…my dad and uncle sometimes brought me here during my training. My mom was a little angry at first, she said there were too many Grimm. But they're both super strong, so I was completely safe." Ruby explained which sadly made Blake ask a tricky question.

"Isn't this part of Beacon training grounds? Wouldn't they have had to get permission beforehand to enter?" Ruby wanted to answer but knew she could not but decided to give a half-truth instead.

"Well, they both went to Beacon when they were in training…so they know a few things…and my dad kinda knows Ozpin so he got permission first…" Ruby admitted as she turned in the direction of the ruins and began walking, "Come on Blake we don't want to be the last ones there!".

Blake decided not to press the issue about how she was able to get into Beacon training grounds or even that her father even knows Ozpin. Taking off after Ruby she made sure to keep Gambol Shroud ready just in case a Grimm appeared.

* * *

Eli watched the camera feed with a bowl of popcorn, he and the other teachers were enjoying everything so far since nothing had gone wrong. And while they had their weapons nearby in case they were forced to intervene, they would rather things went smoothly.

"I bet your happy with that result, Eli?" Glynda asked with a small smirk on her face as she took a sip of her tea, "I bet you were hoping for anyone but Miss Schnee.".

"Not going to lie. But I'd feel sorry for Ruby if she was stuck with her for four years…" Eli said looking over his shoulder at Glynda, "Though it's going to be interesting to see her with a Faunus.".

Everyone but Ozpin looked at him.

"And how do you know she is a Faunus?" Port asked twirling his mustache only for Eli to point to the top of his head.

"That bow she's wearing isn't fooling anyone…that and I looked at her file." hearing Ozpin chuckle everyone looked at him only to see him take a sip from his coffee cup.

"Miss Belladonna is indeed a Faunus though she asked not to be treated by what she is but rather who she is. And I agreed to her terms." Ozpin explained only for the others to question why would she go to such lengths to hide who she is.

"You are aware of the attack on a train belonging to the SDC last month by the White Fang?" Ozpin asked, "Well she knew one of the people behind it and she was scared. Scared of what he had become. She is extremely skilled and would have been foolish to turn her away." Eli put on an expert poker face as he noticed Ozpin raise his mug to drink but not actually drink anything.

It was a rare tell from the cryptic man, he was not telling them the whole story.

"It seems that other pairs are making progress…" he added looking back at the feed and taking the attention off himself.

* * *

Yang thought back to all the trouble she had gotten into over the last few years all the way up to the most recent incident involving a nightclub and a misunderstanding. Needless to say, no one was going to hit on her again in that place if they actually let her back inside.

But her current predicament was much, much worse.

"Do you have any idea which way we are going?" the white-haired girl questioned, yet again, making Yang wonder how far she could fly with a good uppercut.

"My dad and uncles always took us camping back in Patch. So yes I know how to tell which direction we're going in. And keep it down will ya? Unless you want to attract every Grimm in the area?" Yang said keeping her eyes and ears open for any sounds or signs of movement around them.

"We are meant to fight our way to the ruins, it is our job as future huntresses." she said proudly which made Yang fight off the urge to roll her eyes, she really wanted to know if being paired with her was a punishment for the nightclub incident.

"Okay, first princess. Professor Ozpin told us to retrieve the relics, not fight every Grimm in the forest. And second, we haven't even been placed in teams yet, heck we're not even students at Beacon officially." Yang said ignoring the prissy look she got for talking back.

Yang continued through the forest with the only sounds where those of the forest around them and the rude mumblings of Weiss Schnee behind her.

'Why did I have to be paired up with her? Is this Eli's idea of a joke? Did he have something to do with this?' she thought as two smaller Ursa appeared out of the bushes in front of her, looking over her shoulder at Weiss she just winked playfully, "Let me handle this. I need the warm-up.".

Extending her gauntlets she ran forwards using her momentum from a double shotgun blast to launch her up into the air before slamming down on the skull of the first Ursa with a powerful punch before following up with an uppercut. The punch was powerful enough that she felt the jaw break.

Knocking it onto its back it began to dissolve as she turned her attention to the second one. Only to see it encased in ice with spikes piercing its body.

"I totally had it…" Yang said casually before finishing off the first Ursa.

"We are partners now…and while you are quite brutish, it is my duty to look out for my partner." Weiss said resting rapier at her side.

"Geez, I don't know whether to take that as an insult or a compliment." Yang said shaking her head at the girl's higher than thou tone.

"Well, you should take it as a compliment. You should be happy to be paired up with me." Yang seriously could not believe the girl's attitude, she seriously thought she was the greatest. A small whisper in the back of Yang's head told her to be sure to knock her down a few pegs, especially after yelling at Ruby.

* * *

Ruby talked a lot with Blake as they headed towards the ruins, just about visible through the trees in front of them. Surprisingly they had a few things in common such as reading and enjoying the peace and quiet of a night in. But it was clear to Ruby that Blake was happy to hear that she hated the treatment that Faunus received.

Ruby told Blake a little more about Luna and her family about how both her and Yang's parents all lived together.

"Doesn't that get a little crowded?" Blake asked picturing seven people clustered together in a small house on Patch.

"Not really, it's not like it's a small house or anything…but it does get lonely sometimes…Dad works in Vale, my mom and Yang's mom go out on hunts. While our dad, my birth dad, teaches at Signal. But usually someone is there and I always had Zwei there too. Best dog ever." she said which made Blake go rigid for a moment at the mention of a dog.

"Sorry…I'm not really much of a dog person…" Blake apologised when she saw Ruby give her a concerned look.

"Oh, I think you and Zwei would be fast friends. You will never meet a dog more friendly than him." Ruby said trying to convince Blake as they reached a clearing containing the ruins and the relics. Or at least what they thought were the relics.

"Wow…I've never seen it up close before. It's beautiful." Ruby said in amazement as they looked up at the ruins in front of them, "But…are these meant to be the relics?" she questioned looking at the black and white chess pieces.

"Seems so…but looks like we're not the first ones to make it here." Blake said looking at some of the empty pedestals since there was one 'relic' to each pair it showed that a team and a pair had collected their relics and left.

"Should we wait..?" Ruby asked wondering where Yang was.

Before Blake could reply the sound of a girl cheering with joy broke the silence of the forest before suddenly an Ursa came charging out of the undergrowth with a ginger-haired girl who seemed to be riding it. Followed closely by a young man in a green outfit with black hair, who seemed to be a little out of breath.

"Nora…please don't ever do that again." he almost pleaded as he looked over to now dead Ursa thinking to see his friend but did not see anything.

"I'm the queen of the castle!" she sang as she danced around with a Rook chess piece balanced on her head, seemingly erupting with energy. Which was surprising for Ruby to see as she always thought she had a lot of energy.

Ruby giggled as the young man called out to her, "Nora!" meanwhile Nora clearly found the whole thing hilarious.

"Coming Ren!" Nora called back as she skipped over to her friend, just in time for Yang to dropping in from the sky, followed closely by Weiss as they looked up and saw a rather angry looking Nevermore circling above them.

Shortly afterward they saw Jaune crashing through the undergrowth after being whipped through the air by a Deathstalker which was busy chasing Pyrrha. Ruby had run into Pyrrha earlier before they were launched into the forest, she really liked her, she was very friendly to everyone she met.

Ruby and Blake quickly opened fire on the Deathstalker hoping to slow it down to allow Pyrrha to at least catch her breath, the heavy rounds from Ruby's weapon managing to stun the Deathstalker long enough for them to at least regroup. However, Blake's small caliber rounds did very little to the hard armor of the Deathstalker.

Of course, they still had the Nevermore to deal with, which was going to give them, even more, problems to deal with along with the other large Grimm.

"Oh, S-Sugar." Ruby finally said trying not to curse as they watched the Nevermore circle back towards them. Before they looked down and saw the Deathstalker shaking off the hail of bullets that had hit it.

* * *

"Ozpin…are you sure about this? I mean maybe the Deathstalker but fighting that as well as a Nevermore…even that is a little much for two teams at their level of experience." Eli asked, almost itching to get out there and help his daughter and niece.

"They will have to work together as a team eventually, now is as good a time as any." he answered calmly.

Eli and the others watched as both large Grimm started to chase them through the forest towards an old ruined tower that had once been used as a watchpoint to spot approaching Grimm hordes.

Every minute they watched Eli was on edge as they watched the tower began to get wrecked by the Nevermore. Of course, his heart leaped into his mouth when Yang decided to check the dental work of the Nevermore before firing multiple rounds down its throat.

"Well certainly points for improvisation…" Port said, surprised at Yang's actions and given the number of stories he had under his belt it was an achievement to surprise him.

But it was the next part that surprised everyone and almost deafened the room.

They watched as Ruby coordinated her group into turning her into a slingshot projectile after having Weiss freeze the Nevermore at the base of the cliff by its tail feathers.

Blake dug her weapon into one of the old support columns as she threw the other end at Yang who caught it and pulled it tight.

Ruby balanced on the curved blade of Cresent Rose, being held in place by one of Weiss's glyphs, loading a fresh round she turned her attention back to the Nevermore.

As Ruby shot towards the cliff, she was using her rifle and semblance for added speed, short bursts of rose petals appeared behind her as she hooked her scythe around the neck of the Grimm and began to drag it up the cliff face. White glyphs appearing before her as she ran up the cliff face, before finally beheading it. The shower of rose petals falling behind her made the whole thing look even more impressive.

Glynda was sure that Ruby would be able to hear Eli cheering from what he had just watched.

* * *

Ozpin had been putting the teams together when he got to Ruby's group, made up of Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang.

"And team RWBY will be lead by Ruby Rose…congratulations." Ruby looked completely surprised by the announcement as both Yang and Blake cheered for her, while Weiss looked less than impressed and had the face of someone who had just swallowed a cactus.

Meanwhile, Eli was busy recording it on his scroll for Summer to watch over and over again over the next few weeks. Part of him wanted her to be there for it but he did not want her to end up getting removed from the grounds because she was making a scene.

* * *

The class schedule had been changed years ago to accommodate the two classes he thought, and Eli was currently waiting in the classroom, waiting for all the students to arrive.

However, it was almost nine and while most of the class were already in their seats, he was missing both team RWBY and JNPR and while they still had two minutes it was not the best first impression to make.

"Well, it looks as if we won't have a full house this morning…" Eli pondered as he watched the door almost get ripped off as both teams poured in and scrambled to their seats.

"Well nice of you all to join us. I will remind you all that it is, first and foremost, your responsibility to wake up in the mornings. Consider this a free bit of advice." he said smiling as most of the group had the decency to look embarrassed. Nora just seemed to have a content smile on her face the whole time.

"Alright, kids now that we are all here let me just go over what I will be teaching you over the next four years. Afterwards, I will answer any questions you may have…" Eli said turning to the board behind him he wrote his name.

"In case some of you may have forgotten, my name is Eli Frost. And I am Beacon's wilderness survival teacher as well as Human / Faunus relations." writing down the names of the classes he also added Patch to the list.

"Right…I will explain the wilderness survival first. Put simply there will be times where things do not go the way you would like them when you are on a hunt. You may end up with a wounded team-mate or you may be wounded yourself. You might be lost or stranded or any number of things…" taking a moment he continued.

"Learning how to survive is your greatest skill, this will consist of first aid, searching for food and sheltering against the elements among other things. And before you say your aura will heal your injuries, I would recommend only using it to heal wounds in small amounts, using too much if your wounded is extremely dangerous. Especially if you may have to fight Grimm." he warned.

"A suitable site located in Patch has been used by Beacon for the last ten years, it is a perfect area with minor Grimm such as Beowolves and Creepers with the odd Ursa but that is it. So it is relatively safe for us, if not some of the best hunters in Vale live there so if anything larger shows up things will be fine." he explained and smirked when he watched Yang and Ruby's eyes lit up at the mention of their home.

He went on to explain the human and Faunus relations class that was mandatory for them, mainly due to recent events that Ozpin believed that it would be best to reinforce the fact that regardless of some extreme elements on both sides it is possible for both Humans and Faunus to live together without any problems.

"I find that hard to believe, especially with those monsters in the White Fang." Weiss said earning a number of glares from her team, classmates, and Eli himself.

"Excuse me…? What was that Miss Schnee?" he asked, not expecting such a blunt statement from her.

"I'll have you know that not every member of the White Fang are monsters…considering I met the previous leader during that protest massacre at your father's warehouse. Ghira was a man who would do anything to keep the peace, he even handed over a few troublemakers to the VPD just to make sure things were safe.".

"You do realise what they have done to my family right? To our company?" Weiss asked, "People going missing. Shipments being hijacked.".

"And what about the families of all those people who were gunned down by your father's grunts? I actually felt sick as I watched your father's company try to brush it all under the rug. You realise Miss Schnee there were Humans and Faunus in that crowd, including Professor Ozpin himself." Eli explained much to the shock of a lot of the class.

"But I will admit that those were two valid points Miss Schnee." he admitted as he watched Weiss bristle with anger, "But you cannot simply ignore the fact that your father's company is responsible for its own bad image. The amount of complaints Vale council receives about the conditions in Schnee owned Dust mines is horrendous." Eli said wanting to make her understand that in their position, the Schnee company cannot simply do as they please without serious repercussions.

"All our mines operate at Atlas standards! I don't know where you get such slanderous information from but it is wrong. Our mines are closely supervised anyway and if any safety features did fall below acceptable standards then they would be quickly brought up to speed." she stated, trying to defend her family name.

"Tell you what Miss Schnee, stay behind after class and we can talk about your views and how they do not fit into the class, along with your attitude problem." Eli said firmly before turning back to the class.

"Class…I can't change your minds overnight about Humans and Faunus working together. However you will need to work together in the future, I have said this year after year and I will keep saying it until it finally gets through to people. The Grimm are the only enemy we have, and if we continue with this senseless cycle of hate, the Grimm will eventually take over.".

Though it was a rather dark statement to make to such young people, he was happy to see a good number of the class nod in agreement.

"I will now take any questions you may have. Sensible questions." Eli asked as Miss Nikos raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Nikos? What is your question?" Eli asked, glad that someone like Pyrrha was in the class, while she was a champion her record showed that she was extremely kind to other people as well as being able to work well as a team.

"Are you going to go into history when teaching Human/ Faunus relations?" she asked.

"Not entirely, I'll be leaving world history to Doctor Oobleck. I will merely be highlighting the key parts that focus on Human and Faunus interactions, and how they benefited both sides.".

"I assume you will be using your own personal experiences as well?" she added getting a nod from Eli.

"You are correct there Miss Nikos, I do have a number of experiences to draw from that will be fairly enlightening. Though I will say this, my wife of almost fifteen years is human, so I can tell from first-hand experience that Humans and Faunus can live together.".

"Oh, do you have children!?" Nora called out, Eli getting a look of apology from Ren, but both knew she meant well.

"Yes. Miss Valkyrie, we do. Two in fact. And I am very proud of both of them. And both want to be huntresses, not that they aren't skilled enough already. Our oldest took out two dozen Beowolves by herself this past winter." Eli said watching out of the corner of his eye as Ruby looked down at her lap, her cheeks going pink.

"What about your youngest!?" Nora asked clearly finding the whole thing interesting.

"She is still trying to find a weapon that suits her. I swear she must spend more time in the forge than I ever have." Eli chuckled not wanting to throw Luna's name out since Ruby's partner already knew her name.

"I'll answer some more questions at the end of the class if we have time. But for now, lets go over a little more about the survival aspect of the class." he continued turning back to the board as he began listing out what key things they would be learning.

"Professor Frost? When will we head to Patch?" Ruby asked clearly eager to head home and show everyone how great Patch was.

"Sometime in the next month or so Miss Rose. It is dependant on how long it takes to hear back from the local council. Since we require permission from the council beforehand for each trip." Eli explained just in time to hear a scoff from one Cardin Winchester.

"Why do we have to go to that backwater hole?" he asked, "Seems stupid if you ask me? Why not just use the Emerald Forest?".

Calming himself from tossing Cardin through the wall for insulting his home, Eli turned to face him with a glare.

"Because Winchester, in the Emerald Forest there are still Old Grimm. Grimm that have lived through whatever we threw at them, they are smart and powerful. As you are now, you are in no condition to fight them. Patch allows you to improve your skills without us having to tell your families you've been eaten by a Grimm that is a couple of hundred years old." Eli calmly but with a firm underlying tone.

"Oh and one last thing Winchester. You insult my home again I will personally request Professor Goodwitch that I am your sparring partner for the rest of the year. See how long you keep that disrespectful tone for after I throw you around the ring a couple of times.".

Yang let out a loud snort as a number of students said that they would love to see that happen.

* * *

As the rest of the class left, Weiss was left sitting in her seat as she watched people cast a surprising look in her direction.

As the last student left Eli closed the door and let out a heavy sigh, "Miss Schnee, your comments in class today were not only extremely offensive but are in a complete disregard for what Beacon teaches.".

As he stood in front of her she refused to meet his gaze, and it was this that made him wonder if she was going to be this difficult for the next four years.

"You do realise I am a Faunus, right? These ears are real. But for you to pretty much label all Faunus as members of the radical elements of the White Fang is disgusting. By your own logic, all humans are evil for how Faunus are treated by your father's company." he said folding his arms while keeping a calm tone.

"Now I know that statement is wrong. In fact, my wife could easily spend an hour telling you how wrong you are. But whatever your personal views towards Faunus are Miss Schnee, you leave them behind when you come into the classroom, or even to Beacon.".

"Now do you have anything to say before you leave?" he asked, really not wanting to scold her but he would not treat her differently because of her name.

"Your going to send me to Ozpin aren't you?" she asked quietly.

"No…I should but if you can promise me that your earlier outburst is the last then I will forget this ever happened. Your entry scores to Beacon are impressive, you can do so much here, don't throw that away." Eli said trying to reason with her, he knew she was smart enough to excel at Beacon.

"Is that everything Professor Frost?" she questioned coldly towards Eli like she did not care that he was talking to her. Or even that he was a teacher.

"No you can leave, and please try talking to your team. I know they are all different but variety makes for a strong team." he said as she left, slamming the door behind her.

"And I can bet that all this is going to come back and bite me in the ass…" Eli said letting out a weary sigh and he looked at the time, "Glad I wasn't like that when I was her age.".

* * *

Later that night Ruby called Luna, finally happy to talk to her little sister as Yang and Weiss argued about her attitude in class while Blake tried to read her book.

"Weiss that was really rude of you to speak to Professor Frost like that, I mean it is our first day and you just well… treat him like a Schnee would." Yang said being honest.

"Why are you taking his side!? The way he spoke to me was far worse! And what he said about my family was unforgivable." she argued, but to Yang she just shook her head.

"No, it wasn't. And were you listening to the same lecture? Because he said 'your father's company' never 'your company'. It's clear even to me that the only problem he might have with you is your attitude. I don't think he could care less about your family name." Yang explained hoping to make her partner see reason.

"Besides do you think he enjoys being treated like he does? He's the first Faunus teacher at Beacon, which is a milestone by the way, and I'm guessing he basically spends every year telling people they should be working together instead of going after each other." Yang said going to the defense of the man who was an uncle to her.

Blake could not help but smile at Yang going to the defence of Eli as Ruby got off the top bunk bed and headed into the bathroom to get some piece and quiet, she guessed it was because of Yang and Weiss continuing to argue.

"So your taking his side?" Weiss accused her partner, "Aren't we meant to be partners?".

"Excuse me!?" Yang asked surprised at the statement, "The first time we met you called me a brute, then again when we partnered up in the forest. Not to mention how you've treated my sister just because she has tried to be your friend. We're on the same team Weiss, why can't you accept that?".

"Because I should have been made leader. I have trained all my life for this and she just comes in and takes it." Weiss said finally showing her resentment for not being made leader.

"Well get used to it. It was Ozpin's choice to make Ruby leader, just accept it." Yang said now wanting to end this argument as it was beginning to give

Blake was tempted to join Ruby to escape the seemingly endless bickering but it was all stopped by her shortly bursting out with a cry of excitement, which frankly made her jump and nearly drop her book.

"Yang! Luna is going to be in Vale at the end of the month! Isn't that great!?" Ruby cheered getting a high five from Yang as the two sisters could not be happier as Weiss told Yang that they were not finished talking.

"Actually we are…I'm tired and with the good news that my little sis is coming for a visit I'm going to bed on a high note." she said pulling herself up onto the top bunk above Weiss.

However before she could say anything to stop her partner from ignoring her, Weiss let out a 'humph' before going to her desk to go over her notes.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, this took a little longer to sort out than I would have liked but stuff happens. At least it came before the New Year.  
First of all, thanks to everyone who has followed and liked this, glad to see still people interested in this whole story. Second hope you had a good Christmas or whatever you celebrate and hope you all have a great New Year.

And last of all this story will be taking a short hiatus after New Years while I sort some things out. I'm hoping for no longer than a month, but if it ends up looking like it will be longer, I will let everyone know.

* * *

Ruby was very excited for the coming weekend, it had been an interesting month since she got the good news and to those around her, she had a lot more energy than usual.

While it had not been that long since she saw Luna, it was still nice to see her little sister. What made it better was that her mother would be coming as well, she knew Eli had sent her pictures and footage of her initiation. And she was expecting a lot of questions as well as praise.

She had also been focusing on her studies, as much as she would like to work on Crescent Rose she did promise everyone that she would work hard to keep her grades up.

Which led to her currently sitting in class with a smile on her face, she did not realise that Weiss was still glaring at her. She had been so frustrated with losing out on being a team leader, something that Ruby had tried to fix by trying to befriend Weiss, to show her that she was not a dunce, as Weiss often called her.

"Is there anyone who thinks they can show what a true huntsman is capable of?" Professor Port asked as Professor Frost entered and took a seat nearby, wanting to watch how the class was going.

Weiss instantly stood up and said that she was. A little eagerly some people noted.

She wanted to show everyone that she deserved to be her team's leader and not Ruby, but she also wanted to show Professor Frost that she was not the spoilt brat he saw her as.

Port allowed her to get changed and retrieve her weapon when she returned she found her team already giving her their support. Leaving little time to prepare as Port cracked open a lock on a nearby cage and a Boartusk rolled out, the curved tusks giving it it's namesake as she got into a precise combat stance.

She tried to fight but found herself getting distracted by Ruby trying to give her advice. 'As if I need it.' she thought, telling her to be quiet as she focused back on the Grimm in front of her.

Quickly she was reminded of the first rule of combat, never take your eyes off your opponent.

The Boartursk rolled past smashing another lock on the nearest cage, letting an Alpha Beowolf free into the classroom of unarmed students. As she tried to finish the smaller Grimm off quickly, her rapier became caught between its tusks and was swiftly ripped from her grasp.

Losing her weapon, she went on the defence and tried to avoid the rolling strikes made by the Grimm as she scrambled for her rapier, quickly countering and finishing off the Grimm by striking its belly.

However, before she could turn her attention to the Beowolf, she was pushed out of the way by a black mist and watched as a katana lodged itself in the mouth of the Grimm, piercing its skull.

Looking at the wielder of the blade she saw it was Professor Frost, but his eyes genuinely terrified Weiss. They were cold and focused, but she could easily see the rage behind them, all aimed at the Grimm at the end of his blade. With one savage twist, he cleaved upwards through the top of the Beowolf's skull, killing it and leaving it to dissolve into nothing.

Returning his blade to its sheath he looked over at Port who gave him a small chuckle, "Peter…how many times does this happen? You really should think about moving these out of the classroom, or at the very least get someone on hand to make sure there is protection." Eli sighed as he returned to his seat, leaving Weiss still speechless on the ground.

* * *

Eli watched as the class headed out as he spoke to Port, still trying to find out why the man kept live Grimm in a classroom but had long since given up that particular headache.

He saw Weiss approach and start talking with Port about how interesting she found the class before surprisingly having the guts to ask him if Professor Ozpin had made the right choice in letting Ruby lead the team. Of course, there were no thanks from her towards him for saving her from being ripped apart by a Beowolf.

Port, of course, said that every decision Ozpin made was for a reason and that he would not ask him to change his mind on this matter, but he then asked Eli what he thought.

"I don't think you are fit to be a leader…if you have to try and convince others that you have to be a leader, then you really shouldn't. I mean taking earlier, for example, your team was giving you their support and giving assistance, and you tell them to shut up." Eli was smiling at little at this point.

"Peter? Do you agree that being a good leader has to be able to get the best out of your own team but also able to work with other teams?" Eli asked as Port nodded in agreement clearly wanting to go into another one of his stories.

"You see, Ruby, from what I've seen, has made many friends in a very short about of time. Some of them are even second and third years. And yet you seem to think your way is the only way and berate her in front of the class, whether you like it or not she is your leader. And you don't do that to your leader.".

Personally, he was surprised that Ruby had made fast friends with Velvet Scarletina, from team CFVY. Apparently, Velvet had seen footage of Ruby fighting and had approached her to ask if she could take some pictures as she practised. Of course, he doubted that she mentioned that her camera was also her weapon.

"Oh and your welcome by the way. Must be hard to comprehend a Faunus saving your life Miss Schnee, but your stance needs to be more relaxed. You are trying far too much to copy Winter's. You have two different weapons, she has a sabre, and you have a rapier, you need a far more fluid stance." he explained much to her surprise.

Eli's scroll started to ring, and he looked at the caller ID and had a surprised look on his face. "I've got to take this, I'll see you later Peter." he said heading off as he answered the call, "Mel…" he started but winced as the person on the other end began to speak.

* * *

"I don't think I've heard from my grandfather in about five years…" Eli said to Summer over their routine call, "He was angry that I hadn't called him. Doesn't exactly help whenever I tried to call his place in Menagerie it never connected, and I'm somehow to blame…silly old bugger.".

"Well he is in his eighties Eli, maybe he forgot." Summer said trying to defend his grandfather but Eli just shook his head, he knew the man all to well.

"Summer…this man is sharper than any blade, and he doesn't go senile. He just makes everyone think he is, and he certainly doesn't act eighty." he explained, Eli had some measure of trauma when it came to Mel, his grandfather on his mother's side. It was surely a game for him to see just how insane he could make Eli in the shortest amount of time possible.

"How is Ruby doing?" Summer asked quickly changing the subject, which Eli reckoned was her main reason for calling.

"She's doing well, considering that she was moved up two years. She's been focusing on studying as we told her, and I think Yang is happy to help but let's face it she isn't the best at studying is she?" Eli said chuckling.

"Oh, she tries. But when it comes to it she is better on the training side of things isn't she?" Summer said defending Yang but knowing that Eli was only teasing, "But as long as Ruby tries her best then I'll be proud of her. But she does speak a lot about her partner, Blake.".

"Yes, she is quiet but focused. I think she is a good partner for Ruby, who knows her calm nature might rub off on Ruby a little bit." he chuckled as Summer gave him a warm smile, knowing that he was joking.

"Well, apparently you can't even wait a month. Luna already said that you are coming to Vale for a visit." he said as he watched Summer's eye twitch, "She wasn't meant to say anything was she?" Eli guessed.

"No…it was meant to be a surprise." Summer sighed, "Oh well. It's always nice to see my girls smile.".

"Mother of the year Summer Rose." Eli praised with a smile as a message came through on his scroll which made him roll his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Summer asked seeing his expression change.

"Weiss Schnee. She's just gone up to Ozpin's office. Apparently deciding to make a scene about not being made the leader of her team. That girl seriously needs to take a hint. Its been a month, she needs to understand that it won't change anything." Eli explained as he apologised to Summer, "I'm sorry, but I need to help sort this out. I'll try and catch you later my love." blowing each other a kiss they ended the call as Eli headed up to Ozpin's office.

* * *

"Miss Schnee, I have yet to hear a valid reason as to why you are here? You are the only person to complain about Miss Rose, not to mention the only student in ten years to ask for Professor Frost to be removed as a teacher." Ozpin said calmly as he watched Weiss sitting opposite him.

To say he had not been expecting this day would have been a lie. He knew all too well that Weiss had been trying to get some of the other Professors on her side into making her the leader of team RWBY. With no success.

"He is a poor excuse for a teacher. I would have thought a prestigious school such as Beacon would not hire such…riff-raff. He has been nothing but rude to me since my arrival." she bristled, "And as for that…child…why is she a leader? She barely pays attention in classes, doesn't study as much as she should and can barely sound like a leader.".

"Miss Schnee. It hasn't even been a full month yet, and you are casting doubts on Miss Rose's ability to lead, tell me have you spoken to her about your doubts…in a constructive manner rather than speaking down to her?" Ozpin never lost his calm tone as he watched the elevator to his office begin to descend, knowing full well who was going to be entering.

"Miss Rose's team-mates seem to be happy with things as they are…Besides being a leader is more about barking orders it is so much more in fact, and with how you are acting now it is all the more clear to me that you are not a suitable leader for your team. I apologise Miss Schnee, but out of the four of you and given what happened during your initiation, Miss Rose was the best pick.".

"Not to mention the fact I am fully aware that Miss Rose does study considerably more than you believe she does. It was part of allowing her to come to Beacon in the first place as early as she did, that she must maintain a steady grade average." Ozpin explained.

Ozpin knew that his words would likely come back to bite him in the future but he needed everyone to work together, and that would not happen without a firm choice of words to end the situation once and for all.

"And as for Professor Frost, his record speaks for itself. He is a terrific teacher and in fact, the survival rates for students leaving after their final year have increased and is increasing every year, ever since he began teaching survival classes." Ozpin said with a hint of pride as the elevator began to travel up the tower.

"Now…there are some people you will likely meet during your time here who will not allow such slander against him." one such person was a student in their second year, as a leader of her team, she had personally thanked Eli for looking out for her team-mate.

"If you cannot learn to overcome your problem with Miss Rose and the man responsible for teaching you then I do not know why you are here in the first place because it is very disappointing." Ozpin said as the doors opened and Eli entered.

"Ah Eli, glad you could make it. I was just discussing the situation to Miss Schnee here." he said as Eli walked over and sat down, "Do you have anything to add?".

"I just had to cut a call to my wife short…so this had better be the last I hear on the matter." Eli stated simply, "And still have to finish arranging the survival trip to Patch. The island council has raised concerns about Grimm in the area, again.".

"Really? I would have thought having two qualified hunters sweeping through the area on a regular basis would have been enough." Ozpin wondered both men seemingly ignoring Weiss in the room.

"Yes…I've meant to ask about Neo, I haven't been able to get in touch with her for a nearly two weeks. Did you send her out on something?" Eli asked wondering why he had not seen his assistant and friend for a while which was surprising since it was almost impossible to miss her.

"Yes, sorry I had meant to tell you that she is doing a rather important job for me and won't be around for a while…" Ozpin's tone told him not to raise the issue while Weiss was in the room.

"Alright…any idea as to who I can take along? Can't take any of the other teachers here as they will be busy with their classes. Qrow isn't around either." Eli wondered who would be able to go on the trip with him.

"Well…about that…there was someone who volunteered. She is obviously a skilled huntress and knows a lot about survival training." Ozpin slid him a folder and Eli looked at the name before bursting out laughing.

"Skilled? Yes, but patience is not her strong suit. I'll try not to scar her for life though." Eli teased as Weiss took this moment to tell them both to stop and listen saying that it was not a laughing matter.

"Tell you what Schnee lose the higher than thou attitude, and maybe I might start treating you differently. Your sister was far nicer to talk with." her face showed her surprise.

"H-how do you know Winter?" she asked.

"Spent five days with her in Patch. She is quite talented, I can see why she is making such headway as a specialist over in Atlas. Very skilled swordswoman as well. I did mention in Professor Port's class that you are trying too hard to copy her stance." Eli said not even thinking to mention what Winter had told him, whatever Winter and her mother were planning, regarding details he was better off not knowing.

"Miss Schnee. Regardless of your views on the matter, I will not be firing Eli nor will I be removing Miss Rose as leader of your team. Now I will be happy to forget this ever happened as long as you do not push this any further." Ozpin asked as Weiss finally nodded slowly and left without saying anything else.

"This isn't over yet is it?" Eli asked Ozpin who took a sip from his mug.

"I hope it is…She needs to learn teamwork. Sadly I think being raised as a Schnee has given her a firm belief that everything must be done to her high standards." Ozpin sighed. While they would have some peace for some time, it would not last forever.

* * *

Blake was concerned about whether or not she had made the right choice in agreeing to go into Vale with the two sisters. No matter how many times they said it was alright, she still felt uneasy.

It was the weekend, and both Ruby and Yang had been incredibly insistent on having her come with them to Vale to meet their little sister. She had tried to argue that it was a family thing but they wanted to go as a team and since Weiss was still being a little distant but had surprisingly not been so cold towards them, they decided to leave her alone. She was still not willing to talk to them, however.

"Are you sure about this? I feel like I'm intruding." Blake sighed as they waited by the airship terminal for Luna to arrive.

"For the last time Blakey your staying. Trust me you will love Luna, I know she'll love you." Yang said with a knowing grin, both she and Ruby shared a smirk with each other as the passengers began to file off.

"Ruby!" they heard as a young girl dressed in dark grey jeans and a red hoodie jumped at Ruby in a hug.

"Hey what about me pup? Where's my love?" Yang teased as Luna wrapped her up in a hug as well.

As she watched the sisters hug, Blake could only notice one thing. Luna had wolf ears.

* * *

"So…you're a Faunus? I didn't know." Blake said as Luna nodded, having introduced herself to Blake. She was taken back by someone who looked a lot like Ruby but with wolf ears and amber eyes instead of her silver ones. In fact, her eyes looked strangely familiar.

"Yeah. My dad is a wolf Faunus, and my mom is a human. Best parents ever." Luna said with a wide grin as her amber eyes drifted up to Blake's bow, "That bow is nice…but it must be uncomfortable.".

Blake's eyes went wide as she stumbled to explain but Ruby just gently rested a hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright Blake, we kinda knew after the first night as a team. Your bow twitched a lot when you were asleep, we just didn't say anything because it wasn't our business." Ruby explained, which was a comfort to her partner.

"I thought that…It was stupid. I kept thinking people would judge me for being a Faunus…" Blake admitted as she touched her bow, really wanting to let her ears free, but still felt uneasy about the whole thing.

"Nope. We're not going to judge you, Blake, we're a team. Besides, why would I hate Faunus? My dad and sister are both wolf Faunus, and I will never stop loving them." Ruby said as Blake looked at her.

"Wouldn't that make you a Faunus?" Blake asked only for Ruby to shake her head.

"He's my step-dad. But I love him all the same. We all live together in one house, remember? We even have our own forge." she said excitedly as Blake smiled, she was genuinely happy that her team-mates were so understanding.

"I guess…you'd like to see them?" she questioned cautiously. Still in two frames of mind about showing them something she had been expecting to have to hide for the next four years.

"You don't have too. If you're uncomfortable with it then it's alright." Yang said as Blake gave her nod of thanks.

"If it's alright then yes, I'm still a little surprised about all this so if it's alright then maybe later." thankfully Ruby and Yang said that it was fine, they were not going to push the issue.

"Luna! There you are! You have a bad habit of running off young lady." Summer called out as she hurried up to her, everyone watching as Luna turned a shade of pink and her ears flattened.

Blake watched as an older image of Ruby, the only difference was a white cloak and black dress trousers and a white blouse. She looked very smartly dressed for a simple day out but before she could say anything Summer saw her and quickly thanked her for looking out for her daughter.

"I'm Blake Belladonna. I'm Ruby's partner." Blake introduced herself as she watched the woman check her over before nodding with a cheerful smile on her face.

"My name is Summer Rose, I'm Ruby's and Luna's mother and Yang's…well aunt and second mother I guess." she giggled as all three of the girls hugged her, "All three of my troublemakers together again.".

"Hey, we're not troublemakers. It just happens to be around us all the time." Luna said with a massive grin on her face and suddenly realised that Blake had a sad expression on her face.

"What's wrong Blake?" Luna asked as Blake waved her off.

"It's fine…just remembered that the last time I talked to my parents, it wasn't under the best conditions…they must be worried about me…" to Blake's surprise it was Summer who spoke.

"You should call them…if they are worried about you, then they care about you. I know I'm worried sick about my girls and they've only been gone for a month." she said hugging her girls again, "But don't push yourself to do it if you're having second thoughts. But if they love you then they are thinking about you all the time.".

Blake would think about it, while her parents knew about her joining the White Fang she did not believe they knew about all that she did during that time. She just hoped that once she told them, they would not hate her for it.

* * *

They settled for taking an early lunch at a small café and discussed what had been happening lately. Summer was overjoyed to meet Ruby's partner but when she asked where Yang's was they all looked around somewhat nervously.

"Weiss…is difficult. She's been really difficult lately." Yang said, clearly trying to use the right words.

"You mean since Ozpin made Ruby the leader of our team?" Blake questioned, "I wouldn't hide it, Yang, Weiss certainly doesn't." Ruby was surprised at Blake's bluntness.

"Blake…" Ruby said looking at her partner, not expecting such a straightforward answer.

"I'm sorry Ruby, but she has made herself clear how she feels about us. She argues with Yang non-stop, she barely talks to you in any sort of friendly manner and looks to judge my every action. And she doesn't even know I'm a Faunus." she said sounding a little stressed out.

"Do you really think she would do that? Act like how everyone thinks Schnee's act?" Ruby wondered.

"I hope not…I really would like to see us together as a team. But she has been extremely hostile to us over the last few weeks, and it doesn't look like its getting better. I mean what would she do if she found out I'm a Faunus or Luna? I would think how she speaks to Professor Frost is evidence enough." Blake explained, and neither Yang or Ruby could argue with it.

"Is this Weiss Schnee? Maybe you should tell her that her sister's attitude is much better. From what I've heard from Winter, Weiss respects her sister. So maybe dropping her name in conversation would work?" Summer offered her solution.

"You're still in touch with Winter?" Yang asked surprised.

"Oh yes. After her Eli helped her with her training, she stayed in Patch for a few days, and she joined Raven and myself in enjoying some tea. Once she dropped the military attitude, she is very charming to talk with." Summer said getting a laugh from the three girls.

She had been trying to expose Raven to some of the more pleasant things in the world, something that was like trying to get blood from a stone.

"You know Professor Frost?" Blake wondered aloud as Summer nodded with a sly smile.

Summer spent the next hour talking to the girls about Eli, not saying that he was her husband. Needless to say, Blake was really surprised about the new facts she was finding out about it.

"He plays the violin? I would never have guessed that…" Blake said amazed somewhat that a somewhat upfront teacher like Professor Frost would play such an instrument.

"Oh yes. He is very talented at it as well. He's been playing for…over seventeen years. Sometimes it's hard to believe he hasn't gone professional." Summer gushed, trying to control herself when she thought of the times when Eli would play just for her. Though that conversation was certainly not for the ears of her daughters, let alone anyone under eighteen years of age.

"Well he is a Faunus…so he might have thought being a teacher would be a better option for him." Blake said before feeling very small when four sets of eyes fell on her, "I mean a lot of classical music is in Atlas…and I doubt they would like a Faunus who plays better than most humans.".

Summer nodded in agreement, "I would agree with you, it's just sad that he has not played in a while. Ever since that tragedy in Vale at the White Fang protest he stopped playing and focused on teaching.".

"He was at that meeting? My father was there. I heard that a wolf Faunus saved his life when the shooting started…was that Professor Frost?" Blake asked, she had been wanting to go to one of the last peaceful protests of the White Fang but had been forced to stay away.

"Mmmm…is your father named Ghira?" Blake's eyes lit up at the mention of her father as she nodded.

"Yes! I was so worried when I heard about that…even then I was too scared to call him…" she said, looking downcast, apparently upset about the situation between herself and her parents.

Summer looked at Blake for a moment, the poor girl was conflicted, but she could tell that she had a good heart, she decided that she needed to hear something that could put things into perspective for her.

"Girls…could you excuse Blake and I for a moment? I want to tell her something but…It's complicated, so please?" she asked as the three nodded and headed outside for some fresh air.

Waiting until the three were gone before turning her attention back to Blake, Summer decided to tell her something that she needed to hear.

"Blake, I can tell that you love your parents. Am I right?" Summer asked getting a nod from Blake as she continued, "You have the chance to keep your parents in your life, I know they must be worried about you." she explained.

"My parents aren't around anymore Blake, in fact, I made it my duty not to let my father anywhere near my children, because he is responsible for some of my most hated memories during my childhood and early teens." Summer admitted, "But I would appreciate if you don't repeat this to my daughters.".

"As far as they are aware my father is dead, and I'd like to keep it that way. I mean it Blake he is a horrible man, I do not want him anywhere near my girls." she said seriously.

"But what does that have to do with my parents and me? I mean I understand why you want to protect them but why tell me this?" Blake asked only to have Summer stare at her, her silver eyes seemingly piercing into Blake's soul.

"Because you still have the choice of having your parents in your life Blake, they do love you, and I know you love them, otherwise you wouldn't be as worried as you are about them." Summer explained.

To Blake, it suddenly dawned on her what Summer was telling her. She had left her home and her parents without saying a word, leaving them for many years to wonder where she was and if she was safe.

Her parents must have been worrying themselves sick trying to find out if she was in prison or even still alive.

When Ruby, Yang and Luna walked back in they found Blake crying while holding onto Summer in a tight hug.

* * *

Weiss walked quietly back to her team's room. Her thoughts were all jumbled after her meeting with Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Frost, while the idea of the Faunus teacher still gave her a headache at his blatant disregard for her family name but at the same time, she wondered how Winter had been able to spend five days in the woods with him.

She had spent the day walking around Beacon trying to clear her head, the rest of her team had gone into Vale for some reason or another, so she was able to enjoy some peace and quiet for the time being.

"He is a brute…" she mumbled as she opened the door to her dorm and saw her so-called leader sitting on Blake's bunk with the girl resting her head on her lap, Ruby was gently stroking her hair as Blake looked upset.

"What happened?" Weiss asked as Yang took her off to one side, "Stop dragging me!".

"Cool it, princess. Blake is a little upset if you hadn't guessed." Yang explained, keeping her voice as low as possible, "Summer said something to her and I guess she realised something…I don't know. Summer is Ruby and Luna's mother, and my aunt slash second mother.".

"Alright…but what did she say to make Blake so upset…" Weiss asked.

"I just said I don't know and neither does Ruby. She won't say anything to us, but Summer said it was something that Blake needed to understand." Yang said folding her arms, "Where have you been anyway? No classes today, you could have come with us. We did say you could have come along.".

"I went to see Headmaster Ozpin." the moment Yang heard those words she dragged Weiss out into the hall before she could say anything.

"I swear you had better let this whole thing you have against Ruby go, we're meant to be a team Weiss, and you're the only one that is going against everything. And you have the nerve to go behind our backs and run off to Ozpin? What is wrong with you?" she said in disbelief.

"I had my reasons…but Ozpin has told me to drop it." she replied clearly not enjoying saying it.

"As he should. We'll be going to Patch soon for our first survival class, it's my home. If you do or say anything…" Yang warned, glaring at her partner, "Just don't give Beacon a bad name." Yang warned her, while she had much better control over her anger issues with her semblance it still leaked through sometimes.

Without letting her speak Yang headed back into the room, leaving Weiss to wonder if going against the current way of things was worth it.

Was spending the next four years trying to get her way worth it. At the moment she had zero friends since coming to Beacon, sure others had tried to befriend her, but she guessed her attitude stopped that.

'I need to speak to Winter…' she decided.

If there was anyone that she could trust, it was Winter. She had never lied to her, but at the same time, she never treated her as a child either. She always pushed her during their training together, but she knew that she would never improve otherwise.

* * *

"Thanks for this Ruby…I guess I did have a lot bottled up." Blake whispered as Ruby snuggled up next to her, much to everyone's surprise she had asked if Ruby could sleep with her. She did not want to be alone, and the small huntress was nothing but comforting to her.

"That's alright Blake. Happens to everyone sometime, I used to do the same with Luna. But I don't mind." she chirped before letting out a yawn, "Night Blake.".

After Ruby had drifted off, Blake thought about what Summer had said to her, something that she had been keeping from her children all this time but was willing to share with her. She did not understand why she had told her, but now she got the message Summer had been trying to get across.

She decided that once they got back from the survival class on Patch, she would call her parents. She needed to apologise at the very least. She had decided that she could live with her parents being mad at her if they were, but she had to call them, they deserved to know what she had been doing all this time.

Closing her eyes, she felt Ruby nuzzle into her side, and she could only smile at her partner.


	4. Chapter 4

Well this took a little longer than I had hoped, honestly did not intend to leave it this long but can't really help it with other stuff to do, driving lessons, work and getting more of this written ahead of time to try and keep the delays down.

Not that it's helped much so far. But anyway onto the chapter...

* * *

Weiss took a deep breath to calm herself as she waited for her call to Atlas to connect. She had to talk with Winter, and she had always been honest with her and with the last few days having been clearly stacked against her.

She knew she had been lucky to avoid getting into any more trouble with Ozpin after her little, incident, but she had at least managed to avoid getting on anyone's bad side afterwards.

"Weiss? Are you there?" she heard her name being called and looked up and saw her sister looking at her curiously.

"I'm sorry Winter, I must have drifted off. Sorry if I'm interrupting you but I really needed to speak with you." she explained as Winter waved her to continue.

"Well, Weiss, it's a little surprising but what can I do for you?" Winter asked, not really sure what she was expecting her sister to ask her.

"Well I have been having some difficulty with someone you have met and I was honestly hoping you would be able to assist me with getting to understand them." Weiss said, she honestly did not know how she was even going to ask her sister for help with her problem. But thankfully she did not have to.

"It's Eli Frost isn't it?" Winter answered, "I honestly thought I would have heard from you earlier Weiss. But I can understand if you are having problems dealing with Eli, I think you could describe him as an acquired taste." she said smiling.

"So you have met him before then? He had said you had but I was having trouble believing him." Weiss asked.

"Yes. I spent five days in the woods with him on a survival exercise. The first day went as well as you could imagine between a Schnee and a Faunus, but he all but confronted me on the matter and actually challenged me to prove him wrong about us.".

She smiled again as she remembered the conversation they had at the end of the second day, and how they both agreed on something together. She had not expected Eli to be so open-minded about talking to a Schnee.

"We both agreed that Humans and Faunus can be good and evil, Weiss. And not to mention he is a devoted father to his daughters, and his wife…" Winter sighed softly, "Honestly, even I'm jealous. You'll never meet a nicer and warmer woman."

"But what can I do Winter? I haven't exactly made the best impression. Far from it." Weiss went on to explain what had happened over the last month to Winter, or at least the summary.

"Weiss…you'll be fine. Eli is very thick skinned but also understanding. If you just talk to him, then I think you'll be surprised how easy he is willing to put all of it in the past." Winter explained.

"But difficult men aside…" Winter slyly smirked, "How are you getting along with your team Weiss?" Winter was a little surprised by the answer but honestly would have been lying if she had not been expecting it.

"I see…Well, that is something…" Winter said, slightly surprised at how Weiss was doing.

"Please be honest Winter…am I being difficult?" she asked only to get silence from Winter.

"I see…well at least you did not lie to me." Weiss sighed, somehow expecting the answer in the back of her mind.

"Don't blame yourself, Weiss, Beacon is a far reach from what we would encounter in Atlas. The prime examples are Faunus and Human students together on the same team, you would never get that in Atlas schools." Winter explained.

"It won't be easy Weiss, people are going to see you as a Schnee rather than you, just prove that there is more to you than a name, that we aren't all unfeeling…Actions speak louder than words, treat your team with the same respect you would give family. Well, most family…" Winter said both of them knowing who she was referring to.

"Winter…you know what he would do if I stood up to him. He believes this is some sort of phase for me, but being a huntress is more to me than that. I would be dragged back to Atlas before the end of the week if I spoke out against him, Winter." Weiss said watching as Winter nodded in understanding.

"He isn't the most subtle is he?" Winter mused as she looked at another incoming call, "I'm sorry Weiss, I'm afraid I'll have to cut this call short. But please do not be afraid to call, even if it's just to check in. Have a good day Weiss and remember what I told you about Eli.".

Ending the call Weiss actually felt better about things and would try to talk to her team, she decided to start with her partner first. She knew she had a lot to apologise for but would have to take it one step at a time.

Winter sighed after ending the call to her sister as she switched over to answer a private call from her mother.

"Winter…sorry if I'm interrupting but I was wondering if you were free later this week to catch up, maybe continue with what we were discussing the other week." her mother asked.

Willow Schnee was an older woman but certainly did not look her age, some people had actually thought that she was her older sister. But she was certainly an elegant looking lady and was much more than she appeared.

"I believe I can make arrangements mother, was there a particular time you wanted?" Winter asked, bringing up her timetable.

"My dear I did not know I needed an appointment to see my own daughter." Willow teased with a small laugh, "Sometimes Winter you do need to loosen up a bit, if you keep being so tense you'll snap in half." she laughed again when she saw Winter's eye twitch.

"Relax Winter, I am only teasing you. But I am going to be having a late lunch and would love for you to join us." Willow said.

Winter could hazard a guess as to who would be joining them and she did not mind at all, she had met him a number of times and had to admit he was very charming, but still a very open and friendly person.

"That would be fine mother, I look forward to seeing both of you." Winter said before they drifted off into casual conversation, they did speak about Weiss for a while and how she was getting along in Beacon. Willow had been concerned about suddenly reaching out to Weiss after spending a sad few years trying to sort out herself rather than trying to reconnect with her daughter.

Sadly after her marriage began to stagnate she turned to the bottle, realising that all the good she could have done to help Humans and Faunus had gone. When she had decided to change things, Weiss had already become distant and her so-called husband had become a ruthless monster. So she turned to one person who she knew she could trust to help her.

By this time Winter had distanced herself from her father and had refused multiple demands to return home, however she had privately given her all the support she could ask for.

Something that certainly improved the outlooks of both women for the future.

* * *

With their transport Bullhead flying over Vale towards Patch, Eli made sure his class knew what was expected of them. Though some of the class were clearly glad not to be wearing their uniforms for the next few days but he warned them it was something that could change should they act in a way that would reflect poorly on Beacon.

"Alright class, my assistant for the next five days will meet us at the campsite. Sadly my regular assistant is not available, so we'll make do, but she is qualified to help with this class." Eli called out over the engines of the Bullhead as they came into land.

"This is my home, by the way, you cause any trouble here and I will personally throw you into a Bullhead back to Beacon and I'm sure Professor Goodwitch will absolutely love to hear that you're giving Beacon a bad name." he made sure they understood that Glynda would be dealing with any punishments.

As the Bullhead touched down Ruby and Yang were the first to jump out, clearly excited to be back home, though Eli had no doubts that they would excel at the class considering they learnt everything from their parents.

He noticed that Ruby was happily pointing out the town itself and the general direction of their house to Blake, who was surprised that there was such a peaceful place outside of Vale.

Ignoring some of the more snide comments from students that had attitude problems, he led them to the campsite where all the stuff they needed had been set up by Eli's assistant. The only thing the students needed to do that day was set up their shelters for the next five days.

"Damn it!" they heard a woman yell from the woods ahead of them as Eli tried to hold back a laugh as he watched Yang suddenly become a little more reluctant to head to the campsite.

"Oh, Raven! How nice of you to join us for this wonderful day." Eli sang out in merriment as the dark haired huntress levelled a glare at him that would have likely killed him on the spot.

"Shut up…I can't believe I let myself get roped into this…" she mumbled as she finished starting the fire for the camp, the sun was already beginning to set and covered the small clearing in a warm glow.

"Already getting a warm fuzzy feeling about this already Rae. Don't worry I would still rather have Neo to help, but Oz has her doing some job that I don't know about. So knuckle under and grow a pair…" he said much to the surprise of everyone around them.

"…I hate you sometimes, I really do…" she said, still glaring, as the students began to notice the resemblance between Yang and the woman. Her eyebrow twitched as she turned and addressed the students.

"That's right I am Yang's mother if you hadn't already guessed. To those who did, well done your powers of observation are remarkable." she said deadpanning as she saw Ruby waving at her, "Hello Ruby.".

"Hi aunty Raven!" she cheered as Yang tried to hide from the stares she was currently getting, not that she was against getting attention but the fact her mother was glaring at everyone did not make it better.

"Yeah…Yang, you are not going to hide with that hair. Trust me." she sighed as she pointed to the compacted shelters. "Your first task for the rest of this day is to set up your team's shelters for the next five days.".

"So how do we do that?" one student asked only to have Eli and Raven chuckle.

"Oh, that's down to you. Raven and I will be watching and seeing how well you do it and work as a team. And you will be marked for it as well…" they stood around looking at the shelters before Raven yelled at them to get moving before sharing a laugh with Eli as they scrambled around.

* * *

"This easy. Leave it to us." Yang said showing her confidence again as she and Ruby went about setting up the shelter, "We've done this a lot.".

"Shouldn't we be helping though? It is meant to be a team effort." Weiss asked earning looks from the three other girls, "What?".

"No offence Weiss…but have you ever set up a tent?" Ruby asked as Yang and Blake nodded, "I mean Yang and I do this every year with Luna when we go camping together, Blake have you set up tents before?" Ruby asked getting a nod from Blake.

"I've set up a few so I do know a little." Blake and Ruby joined Yang in putting the shelter up in record time, leaving Weiss feeling a little useless.

But while they were putting the shelter up they did ask Weiss to hold things in place while they attached them to the frame and the covering to the frame to make sure it was secure.

* * *

Meanwhile Raven and Eli were watching the students, noting that some were doing much better than others.

"So you actually have to act like a teacher instead of her father…isn't that going to be tough?" she asked looking at Ruby.

"Yes, it is. But my money is on it coming to light sometime in the future. So I'm not that bothered by it." Eli said deep in thought as he watched team JNPR attempt to deal with their tent, he made a note not to let Nora near anything breakable in the future, just to be safe. He was filled with pity for Ren, who was trying to stop Nora from using her weapon to hammer in the ground pegs.

"Yes, but what about her? Her father is meters from her and she can't even give him a hug." Raven tilted her head round to watch Eli's reaction but was surprised when she saw him smile.

"She'll deal with it. She's growing up Raven, can't stop that so might as well let her grow how she likes. She knows I'll always be backing her up whenever she needs it." Eli said with a hint of reluctance, he had been watching over Ruby pretty much all her life, it would be hard but not impossible to keep himself at a distance while she grew up.

"Well don't back away too far…I learnt that the hard way." she sighed as she played with a strand of hair, "Sometimes I still think deep down she hates me for leaving…but Summer keeps telling me otherwise.".

"She's a wise lady…smarter then most people I meet." Eli knew he was a very lucky man and kept it in his mind always that Summer was the greatest thing to happen to him.

"Just keep that in mind…you know when I found out that Tai had married Summer after I left I was happy but then I soon realised what we were doing was… well, it was going to end badly." she admitted, avoiding his gaze.

"So he never told you after you two started sleeping together? Wow, I never knew that…" he admitted, "But he's apologised for that, right?" he asked getting a nod from Raven.

It was surprising for Eli to hear that Tai had not told Raven that he had married Summer after they started seeing each other again, while things were better now if he had known that at the time, Tai might have ended up with some broken bones.

"He was so happy to see me, he wasn't thinking. When I walked through that door the first time he cried, he was just so happy, please don't hold it against him." she asked only for Eli to shrug.

"Already have forgiven him, besides it all worked out didn't it? Besides if I still held a grudge I wouldn't have gotten us all living in the same house." Eli explained hoping to make Raven feel better about the situation.

"Done!" Ruby shouted out much to the ire of some of the other students, Eli walked over and gave the shelter the once over before giving the team a thumbs up.

"Good job. Though I do have one small thing to add…Miss Schnee you may want to think about a change of footwear, high heels cannot be sensible walking shoes." he commented before checking on the other students.

"Alright, now that your shelters are set up we'll discuss what will be happening while you are out here. Raven and I will be observers for the most part, while we will also be imparting knowledge about survival. It's sort of like throwing you in at the deep end but if you listen, then it will be easy going." Eli explained

He noted that some of the students weren't looking so sure about the situation but they would understand soon enough.

"Alright…for the most part the rest of today you can get settled, but tonight will have to collect firewood for the rest of the rest of our stay, so each team will have to collect some, no slacking." he warned looking at team CRDL in particular.

"While here we will be tracking Grimm as well so that is why you have your weapons with you, but I really hope you've paid attention in Professor Port's classes as I will be quizzing you on Grimm tracks while out here." Raven looked at him and tried to hold back a laugh.

"This coming from the man who thought an Ursa track was a Goliath's." she snorted getting a few other laughs from the class.

"To be fair I had a little too much of your brother's whiskey that day…not my proudest moment." he admitted.

"I thought that was when I caught you and Sum…" Raven was cut off by Eli clamping his hand over her mouth.

"Never…bring that up…in front of the class. Ever." he said calmly but the look in his eyes told her differently. He did not want it blurted out in front of the class.

The rest of the day had the students heading out and exploring the area, finding the stream and a few peaceful out of the way areas that really showed the wonderful scenery of Patch.

Of course, he was not surprised in the least when he saw Ruby and Yang already roasting marshmallows over the fire which made him wonder if they had stashes over the forest.

* * *

Later that night Eli gave the order for all teams to head out and collect firewood, while he and Raven waited at the campsite and prepared the only meal they would get easily while out in the wilds. Afterwards, they would have to find their own food for the rest of the trip, either in the woods or by the stream.

But as they both expected they had some students who did not really take the whole matter seriously and had come back with a single piece of wood that was either not suitable for use or was not enough for what they needed.

Raven, however, made sure they understood that they needed to pull their weight and that everyone else would not be picking up their slack.

"Alright everyone, if your done eating then there is one last lesson I need to pass on to you. Can anyone tell me which direction north is? Because knowing which way you are going when out in the wilds is extremely important." he explained as a number of students rose their hands. But he settled on getting Ruby to answer his question as he knew she would give the best answer.

"Miss Rose, tell the rest of the class how to find north." he said as Ruby began to explain and point out the constellations and stars in the night sky that would always point them find north.

"Well done. That is perfect. I hope you made note of that class because you will be tested on it at a later date." Eli chuckled when he heard a few groans at the mention of a test.

"Alright you lot stop complaining, you all head to bed, you'll be up early getting your own dinner tomorrow morning." Raven announced as she got to her feet, "And one rule that I will personally enforce is that if I catch anyone peeking on anyone I will make sure you regret your life choices." she said patting her sword.

* * *

Eli was busy waiting for Raven to change before he called it a night, taking a walk around the camp he stopped and waited, checking to make sure there was not anything lurking in the darkness.

Of course, he did not expect to hear a bird call behind him as he turned and saw Ruby waving to him.

"Ruby…you should be in bed why are you out here?" he asked, walking over to her.

"I-I just wanted to see you, and…" she rushed in and hugged him, "I've wanted to do that for days. I miss calling you dad.".

"I know Ruby…trust me I do. But we all agreed to this, you've already got enough on your plate as it is. I don't want to add more to that by people targeting you because your dads a teacher." returning the hug they stayed like that for a moment before she reluctantly let go.

"I'll see you tomorrow… dad." she said smiling warmly before heading back to her team's tent and Eli waited a moment before heading back himself, it would be a while before things settled but he knew that Ruby could do it.

Laying down he felt Raven staring at the back of his head.

"Does the angry lady have a question?" he teased only to feel her punch him in the back.

"Funny. But you know it might only be a matter of time before people start to question your relationship with her, I know your trying but you are still favouring her above other students. I know you don't mean too…" she started to say but Eli stopped her by rolling over to face her.

"I had her answer one question Raven, and she gave the best answer for the rest of the others to learn. I've already promised Summer that I won't play favourites. So you don't need to worry about it. Now get some sleep, we can terrorise them tomorrow morning." he said before rolling onto his back again.

* * *

Summer sighed as she looked around the house. It felt so empty without the children there, while Luna was still there she was going to Signal so it was mostly empty through the day.

"No new jobs either…" she lamented, resting her head on the kitchen table she wished something would happen but before she could kick off on a mental rant the doorbell rang.

Opening the door she came face to face with a short older man and almost squealed with delight.

"Mel! Oh, I didn't know you were coming! It's so good to see you!" Summer cried with joy as she hugged the shorter man who was busy chuckling at where his head was being shoved before breaking the hug and looking the woman up and down.

"Oh well, these old bones had to get out. Menagerie is fine, but you know it's not got my family." Mel was an old Faunus his short hair was a mixture of white and grey as were his wolf ears, and his eyes were a softer shade of amber. He had a permanently friendly face, even if wrinkled in his later years he was, in Summer's opinion, the most positive person she would ever meet.

He had been a huntsman at one stage but had become a filmmaker in his later years, doing a number of low-budget documentaries about Grimm, Faunus history and the old ruins around Remnant. Of course, while his films were serious he was a very funny man, believing that laughter was the best medicine.

"Come in please, I'll put some tea on." Summer said holding the door open for Mel as he walked in easily enough.

"Oh, that is wonderful. I have missed your tea…" sitting down at the table he struggled a bit before relaxing, "My semblance might be enhanced healing but it can't completely stop the effects of ageing. Another few years I'll be a walking bag of jerky." he chuckled

"Don't be like that. Your still an incredibly active man at your age." Summer said pouring the tea, "And Eli would agree with me, maybe…".

Mel let out a loud snort, "That boy would agree to get me back to Menagerie, he says he loves me but he worries that all the women in his life will love me more than him. I mean look at me, I'm a catch.".

"You are, but I'm staying with Eli." Summer chuckled, "Doe's Anita know you're here?".

Mel shook his head, "We had words regarding Lucas…I said he would come around in time but she was clearly worried about him staying with the White Fang. She said that I wasn't taking it seriously. But she must understand he is young, impressionable and after the recent events, he is doing what he thinks is right.".

"Mel…you're a very smart man but she is your daughter, even if you fought then maybe you should talk and try to find a solution." Mel sipped his tea, taking in the pleasant flavour, he knew Summer was right.

"I'll think about it…this old fool can't rush into things." setting his tea down he clapped his hands together and put on a smile, "But tell me how everyone is doing? My grand-daughters must be so big now.".

"Well, Ruby was recently enrolled in Beacon along with Yang, they're both on the same team as well. Luna has just started Signal too." Summer explained getting a joyful grin from Mel.

"That is wonderful…would it be alright if I paid the girls a visit. It's been years since I last saw them." Mel pulled out his scroll and showed Summer the main screen, it was a picture taken at a family gathering five years ago.

"Oh my, this won't do. Tell you what Mel, let's get everyone together again in Vale. At the end of the week, Eli finishes his survival class and we can all get together and catch up properly." she pulled out her scroll and set a message to everyone that they would be making plans for the weekend.

* * *

The sound Ruby made when something amazing happened or was going to happy could really be described as a high pitched sound. Something Eli knew the hard way as he winced upon hearing it.

"Miss Rose! Please be careful, my ears…" he said rubbing them as she apologised.

"Sorry but my great grandfather is visiting." Ruby said so innocently but the words made Eli groan inside.

'Great four days of this and then two days of Mel…' pulling out his scroll he fired off a quick message to Summer to ask if it was true only for a message to come through saying they were getting together for a family get together in Vale for the weekend.

She mentioned that Mel had been missing them and when she reminded him that it had been about five years since she last saw Ruby and Luna. A smile graced his face as he thought back to the wrinkled old wolf basically being a father figure after his own left him.

"I should be nicer…always did so much for me when I was growing up and asked for nothing in return." he mused aloud as Eli replied back to Summer saying that he would be happy to do it, regardless of any school work that needed doing.

"Who are you talking to?" Raven asked taking a seat next to him, "Talking to yourself I hope. Finally convince Summer your crazy and have you committed." she teased getting Eli blowing a raspberry at her as he showed her the message.

"My grandfather is visiting again. Came all the way from Menagerie just to see everyone. He's in his eighties…and is still more active than people half his age." Eli said smiling as he watched Ruby talk animatedly with Yang, Blake and Weiss about Mel visiting.

"Something tells me this is going to change things though…" he wondered aloud as Raven looked on as the students went about getting their breakfast's ready.

* * *

Blake had to admit that Eli was a remarkable teacher when it came to survival, he knew stuff that even she was not aware of. But she felt it was a little strange that Ruby and Yang continued to give him high praise while they had barely been at Beacon for a month.

Was there something she was missing, she was sure there was but considering that it might not be any of her business she put it aside for now.

Ruby had rushed over shortly after hearing about her great-grandfather visited and was clearly discussing something with Eli, gesturing to the camp and the fire and she had to wonder what she was saying. Even with her sharp hearing, she was unable to hear them clearly.

Eli sighed and nodded, though he was smiling as Raven tried to hold back a smirk.

She was brought out of her thoughts by Yang waving her hand in front of her face, "Remnant to Blake. Hello?".

"I'm sorry…what?" she asked as if missing a question.

"Oh, you got the hot's for the teacher?" Yang asked a sly grin only for Blake to glare at her, clearly not finding it funny, "Oh…it's not my mum is it?".

"Yang! No! It's not either of them. Please just stop." she hissed glaring at her friend, though that was currently up for debate if she kept making wild accusations. But Yang saw this as something to return to as there were three people standing together and if it was not Eli and Raven then that left Ruby. At least that is what her mind was processing it as.

Blake was trying not to give Yang anything else to give her anything else to tease her about as she tried to ignore the face-splitting grin she was giving her.

"Yang…Be serious for a moment, will you? Don't you find it strange that Eli is really friendly with Ruby?" she asked quietly hoping that no one else overheard them, "Is there anything between them I should know about?".

"Blakey…really? We've known Eli for a long time, he's Summer's best friend and he pretty much helped her raise Ruby. He doesn't treat her any different either, in fact, he was against her coming to Beacon until she had finished her time at Signal." she said making Blake relax a little.

"Oh…I'm sorry I just have never seen a teacher so friendly with a student." she admitted.

"You should have seen my uncle Qrow when he was still teaching at Signal if he was able he would have taken the entire class out for a bar crawl. He was really friendly with his students, then he started working for Ozpin, and had to stop teaching at Signal. But I think he was happy to do it, he doesn't like sitting around." she said, leaving out the part where he had started dating Glynda.

"Okay…guess I shouldn't overreact like that…just looking out for my partner." she said ending the topic much to Yang's surprise but she was happy, the last thing they needed was Blake looking too much into Eli and Ruby's relationship.

"Good, last thing I need is you having the hots for my mother." she teased one last time, chuckling at Blake groaning as she buried her head in her hands.

* * *

So few little moments, next chapter will finish off the survival class as well as having a Blake moment in it. But once again, feels like I've said this before, hopefully, it won't be too long till the next one.


	5. Chapter 5

Well here's the next chapter... Sorry for the wait.  
I know I said that I was going to try and keep on top of this, but on the plus side, I have something else planned to upload later in the next few days. Sort of a 'what if' scenario.

* * *

Raven watched the students return from collecting more firewood for the night. Tomorrow was the day that all the students would return to Beacon, and she would head back home to try and save Summer from going crazy and redecorating the entire house.

She had been bombarded by messages from Summer asking if she had heard about anymore Grimm hunts that she may have heard about, it was beginning to grind on her last nerve.

"Something on your mind?" she looked up and saw Yang, "You've been looking at that fire for the last five minutes."

"Nothing…Summer is just being, well…Summer. When she gets bored it always gets difficult, she always sends me messages non-stop. I think she just wants to try and get a rise out of me." Raven explained showing Yang the multitude of messages she had been sent.

"Why not invite her out here? Just for a couple of hours?" Yang asked innocently, clearly not understanding what would occur should Summer and Eli be in the same area together.

"Yang…your old enough to know what happens between a man and a woman, if those two are here together then I will be sleeping outside. Because I am not sleeping in the same tent as those two." Raven explained giving a small shudder as she tossed another piece of wood on the fire.

"Like you and dad have never done something like that." her daughter teased as Raven just levelled a glare at her.

"I choose not to answer that Yang…now get back to your team I think Weiss is about to strangle Ruby." pointing over to the rest of Yang's team she saw Weiss looking at Ruby as she and Blake continued to discuss something about books.

"How is she settling in? Everything going smoother?" Raven asked, hoping that Weiss was getting along easier with the rest of the team.

"She's…getting better. Especially over the last few days. Just taking it one day at a time. Though I think Ruby will be happy if she stops talking down to Eli all the time." Yang explained with a sigh. While it was hard for her not to take sides she had to admit that the way Weiss talked to Eli, in the beginning, was too much.

"Good to hear it. Now get going, I think you might be needed." Yang looked over her shoulder and saw Weiss running her hands down her face in frustration.

* * *

"Sheesh, Weiss didn't have to get that mad." Ruby said as she and Blake decided to take a small walk before turning in for the night.

"I don't see either. I mean all we were talking about were books, if we were being too loud then she could have just said something." Blake sighed looking behind her at the camp off in the distance, both had their weapons with them just in case they happened to encounter Grimm.

However, Blake did something that Ruby was not expecting and removed her bow, allowing her ears to be free.

Ruby was staring at them and could not help but want to touch them but knew it would be really rude of her to do something like that.

"Oh, wow…um, Blake." Ruby started to say but was simply taken back by how amazing she looked in the moonlight.

Blake looked at her partner and realised what she had just done, and noticed a faint blush on her face.

"Ruby? Are you alright? Sorry about just doing that, guess now is as good a time as any. What do you think?" Blake asked hoping that Ruby did not say they looked strange on her or anything. She knew she did not hate Faunus but she did not want to make things strange between them.

Ruby was just looking at her trying to form words before she finally gave up and pulled the hood of her cloak up, her cheeks turning as red as her cloak.

"They look really nice Blake…um yeah." Ruby blushed trying to get the image of Blake bathing in the moonlight out of her head, 'Wait bathing? Where did that come from?' she thought.

"I'm sorry if you're uncomfortable…" she went to retie her bow but Ruby stopped her.

"It's alright Blake…It's just, I wasn't expecting it. That's all. You can leave them free if you'd like. I don't mind." she explained as Blake nodded, a small smile present on her face.

"But there was something I have been meaning to ask you Blake, going back to our books. What is that one you read at night? You seem really happy to read it, could I borrow it when you finish it?" Ruby asked innocently as it was Blake's turn to blush at the mention of the book in question.

'Did I make too much noise? Am I going to have to read it in private from now on?' Blake thought as a million thoughts went through her head.

Ninja's of Love was her favourite series by far and was certainly not a book that she would be lending to Ruby. To describe it as an adult series was an understatement, and she did not want to expose Ruby to all of that adult content in those wonderful pages.

"Um…what book are you talking about?" Blake asked hoping that she might be able to defect the name of the series onto something a little more suitable. But it was not going to be that simple.

"Ninja's of Love. You seem to really like it." Ruby said making Blake wish she had taken better care of hiding the title from her.

"Ruby do you know what that book is about?" Blake asked carefully, hoping from the bottom of her heart that Ruby did not know.

"Yeah, aunty Raven reads it from time to time. She reads books she enjoys out loud, so…yeah." Blake's eyes widened, a seasoned huntress was reading what many saw as porn around someone as young as Ruby.

"Oh…um. Ruby I'm sorry but I don't think those books really are really suitable for you, they are adult by even adult standards." Blake explained, wishing she was not having this conversation.

"Blake just because I'm two years younger than pretty much everyone here doesn't mean I'm meant to be treated like a child, someone to be shielded. There is a reason why I wanted to become a huntress, people see me and think I am too young, too weak, but very few actually believe in me." Ruby explained and Blake wondered if she had said something wrong.

"I'm sorry Ruby I didn't mean it that way. I know you put in a lot of effort into Beacon, I guess I should have phrased it better." she sighed as Ruby looked around at the forest around her.

"Blake do you know what people in the cities think of Patch?" Ruby asked as she looked up at the moon, "They think we're backwards because we live outside the protection of Vale. They look at us and think that no one can be huntsmen and huntresses. But some of the best to come out of Beacon are people from Patch." she said proudly.

Blake thought about it and guessed she was fighting an uphill battle to be accepted at Beacon, not only was she younger than everyone else but people judged her because of where she is from. And as her partner, she should be more understanding.

"Ruby from what I've seen of you fighting I don't think you have anything to worry about, and your putting in more effort for your studies than most of the people in our year. You shouldn't put yourself down like that." Blake said trying to let Ruby understand that she was not against her in anyway.

Ruby looked at Blake, pondering her words as they heard Eli let out a sharp whistle from the direction of the camp, a signal that everyone was to turn in for the night. As Blake turned to head back she felt Ruby wrap her arms around her, hugging her from behind.

"You are a really great partner Blake, thank you." she mumbled into her back, "Come on let's head back before d…Eli starts looking for us." Ruby said catching herself before she said 'dad'.

If she heard the slip she did not say anything as they returned to camp.

* * *

As night settled Eli watched Ruby and Blake return from their little walk through the woods and for a moment he was tempted to wonder what they had gotten up to, but a familiar smell caught his attention and his hand tightened around his sword.

"Raven…are all the students back?" he asked, his eyes focused on a small clearing just ahead of him.

"Yes…I'll get my sword…" she answered when she saw Eli's eyes. They were narrowed and focused, something that she had seen a few times in the past.

"Class! Keep your weapons on hand and stay together…" Raven called out as she returned with her weapon, changing the blade to an ice dust blade, she did not want to set fire to the woods using a fire dust blade.

"What's going on Raven?" Ruby asked looking over at Eli who was drawing Shadow's Claw.

"Stay put Ruby, we'll handle this." Raven stood next to Eli as a rare sight to either to either of them, an elder Beowolf, something that Eli had only seen once. And it brought back a lot of painful memories.

"Eli…focus." Raven said seeing Eli begin to breathe heavily, almost like he was waiting for the Beowolf to make the first move so he could tear it apart, "Whatever you're thinking about, stop it. We have to look after the students." she reminded him.

'She's right, I thought I had control over this…I can't throw that all away.' Eli thought, shifting the grip on his weapon into a more defensive positioning. "Everyone stay close to the fire, do not wonder off. Most of you can't see in the dark!" he called back as the Beowolf turned its attention to him.

Eli dashed past it making a quick strike against it to make it turn around and face him, "Raven! Make sure the area is clear! I'll keep this one occupied!" he called out as Raven nodded knowing that Eli could keep the Beowolf occupied until she finished her sweep.

The Beowolf leapt at him but missed as Eli disappeared in a swirl of darkness, reappearing behind it and thrusting his blade into the exposed flanks of the Grimm. He heard a familiar high calibre round fire off as he saw a chunk of bone get torn off the Beowolves armour, "Watch your fire!" he called out as he continued to press the attack on the Grimm.

'Come on Ruby you know better than that.' he thought, wondering why she had fired off a round in the darkness, a little further to the right and he would have lost a fair sized chunk of his aura.

When he saw Raven out of the corner of his eye he dropped back next to her, both of them had a better chance of ending the fight quickly if they attacked it together.

Raven attacked first with a large overhead strike with an Ice dust blade, aiming to freeze the Beowolf to some extent, to slow it down.

However, the Beowolf was quicker and managed to avoid it, causing Raven to freeze a patch of earth where it had been standing. Eli went in after her making sure that the Grimm did not have a chance to strike back and kept up the pressure.

As the Beowolf reared up to strike him, Eli drove his polearm into its soft underbelly moving quicker than he would have thought as he pushed back with all his strength, he knew that if he could push it onto its back Raven would be able to finish it off quickly.

But before he could do that he felt something heavy hit the side of his head and he struggled to stay upright as he felt the Grimm's claws rake across his chest. He felt the pain, it was the all too familiar burning feeling that gave him flashbacks to the past. Gritting his teeth he sensed Raven driving her sword up into his ribs and kept pushing until the tip was protruding out of its neck.

The woods fell silent as Raven looked over at Eli, their weapons still lodged inside the now dead Grimm.

"You and I are going to have a chat about this with Summer…holding a Grimm in place like that? Are you insane?" she asked, "What if I hadn't been able to hit it?" she could have kept going but she guessed she did not need to as it was clear that Eli was thinking the same thing.

"Come on you idiot…let's get you patched up, those cuts don't look too deep anyway." she said as the Grimm dissolved into nothing, freeing their weapons. Thankfully Eli was able to walk back to the camp on his own feet, though his chest felt as if it was on fire as he pushed some of his remaining aura into the claw wounds.

"Professor? Are you alright?" Pyrrha asked upon seeing the claw marks racked across his chest, his shirt hanging in tatters.

"Yeah…not one of my best ideas but it's not as bad as it looks." there was a sudden outburst of concern by a number of students who were worried that more Grimm might be nearby.

"Alright, that's enough! Raven did a sweep before helping me with that elder Beowolf, we're safe. Honestly thought we'd gotten the last of the old Grimm a few years back?" he asked Raven.

"Might be worth getting a team together to sweep those old dens in the hills, something may have taken up residence." Raven suggested, "After we finish this up I can go and grab Summer and go have a look.".

"No, take a team. If there is something there it might not be alone, unless you want a repeat of tonight?" Eli questioned as Raven retrieved a first-aid kit from their tent.

"Fine, I'll send for another team. Summer and I would be happy to do it though. It wouldn't take all that long." she said, her tone saying how easy it would be.

As Raven stitched him up by the fire, all the students went to sleep, all but one.

"Ruby…was there something?" Raven asked, not looking up from stitching up Eli, "Because I think it's time everyone was going to sleep.".

"S-sorry, I just wanted to say I'm sorry…I know I shouldn't have taken the shot but I just wanted to help." she said, looking at the ground, but it was the fact that she sounded so ashamed of herself that surprised both of them.

"It's fine Ruby. I know you meant well, but with it being as dark as it is, just be careful in the future. Always think before you shoot in a situation like that Ruby." he nodded to her tent, "Now off to bed or do I have to call Summer down here and get her to tuck you in?" he teased watching as she went red and hurried off.

"And then you'd ask her to tuck you in, with her right next to you." Raven muttered dryly as she finished wrapping the bandages, giving him a small pat.

* * *

"I can't believe he did that." Yang whispered to Ruby as they lay in their tent, "I mean who holds a Grimm in place as it's clawing at them?".

"I don't know…mom is going to be so mad when she finds out though. You know she doesn't like it when he does stuff like that." Ruby whispered back, glad they had waited until Weiss and Blake were asleep before they started talking.

"Well maybe we shouldn't tell her, my guess is Raven will explain it to her later." Yang said rolling onto her back, "But I don't think she'll be that mad, I think at most a twisted ear and a few strict words." she chuckled.

"I can't wait for the weekend though to see Grandpa Mel again, it's been so long." Ruby said joyfully, though keeping her voice as quiet as she did not want to wake the others.

"I know Rubes just got to get to the weekend and everything will be awesome." Yang said closing her eyes, "Let's get some sleep.".

"Yang…should we invite Weiss and Blake? I mean I would be nice to do something as a team, wouldn't it?" Ruby asked and Yang agreed, hoping that maybe Weiss would see that bigger picture about what Beacon means to them. Even though she was easier to get along with now she sometimes fell back on her previous attitude even for a little bit.

* * *

Eli was overall, quite pleased with how the class had progressed with the survival training. While some were better than others by a clear margin most of the class did as was expected. Over the next four years, they would do more of these, each one getting more and more difficult as the years went on. To improve and develop their skills to a point where they would be comfortable in their skills to survive should anything go wrong.

"Well this is it class and I am rather pleased with how you've all done over the last five days. You've all passed over the target mark…well done. Keep up with the work because at the end of this year there will be another trip out here. Only this one will be a little bit harder." Eli said with a grin.

"He's right, I'm impressed by everyone's progress and that isn't an easy job…but if you keep this level of commitment up then you'll do just fine." Raven added, "I will tell you from experience, it isn't easy out there by yourself…but keep at it and keep your team close you'll be fine.".

As the class headed into the Bullhead back to Beacon, team RWBY stayed behind for a moment.

"Professor Frost?" Weiss asked getting his attention, "I would just like to say I'm sorry…the last few days has really shown me that I was acting… harshly towards you. I guess I really should have actually listened instead of acting out. This whole thing…" she said gesturing to Patch, "Has shown me how much I really need to grow as a huntress and as a person…Winter was right about you.".

Eli was not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing but took it to mean that Winter was still holding him in good regards rather than telling Weiss that he was nothing but trouble. Which he was, at times.

"It's good to hear you say that Weiss. While you're just starting here, if you keep your mind open to learning new skills and researching your environment you can really stand out as a huntress." Eli said, glad that Weiss had listened to Ozpin and changed her attitude towards him, and hopefully Ruby.

"Right you lot get back to Beacon. Eli and I have to clear up the campsite before we leave. I'll see you girls on the weekend…oh and Yang? No beer…" Raven said getting a groan from her daughter as she headed back to the Bullhead while Ruby poked fun at her, getting a playful push in return.

* * *

Arriving back at Beacon, Blake made her way nervously back to their dorm. She had asked if she could have the room to herself for a while so she could call her parents without having any interruptions.

Ruby was happy to get everyone to the cafeteria for a snack to keep them away so Blake could already do something that was making her nervous enough.

"Alright, Blake you can do this…they're your parents. They'll be happy to see you…" she mumbled to herself as she waited for the call to go through. To say she was nervous was an understatement, it was taking all her willpower not to break down in a panic at the thought of talking to her parents again.

When the call connected, Blake found herself face to face with a woman who looked much like herself only older and with shorter hair.

"Blake? Is that you?" she asked, clearly surprised to get a call from her daughter out of the blue.

"Hi, mom…sorry, it's taken so long to get in touch…" Blake said now completely unsure as to what to say to her mother, Kali.

A wave of emotions crossed their faces as they took a moment to compose themselves.

"Blake…your father and I have been so worried about you. I'm so glad you're alright." Kali said smiling warmly.

"Mom…I'm fine, but I've done things I'm not proud of. With the White Fang." she admitted wanting to tell her mother the truth since she deserved it. But she hoped that she would still talk to her afterwards.

"It was Adam wasn't it?" she guessed getting silence from Blake, "Damn him…I never liked him, he was always too respectful but at the same time a little too overzealous.".

"I believed what he was saying mom. I believed that he could deliver our dream of equality…I was so stupid." Blake watched as Kali shook her head.

"Don't say that Blake. If we believe in something so much we can often lose sight of our own common sense and what is right." she explained to her daughter.

Blake took the time to recount the time on the Schnee train where Adam had wanted to kill everyone on the train whereas she had tried to reason with him but had just been ignored.

"I know not every human is disgusted by us. But Adam doesn't see that and he is growing in power and followers within the White Fang. I'm so scared because it sounds like he wants another war." Blake explained looking down at her hands.

"Blake…that will never happen. There are still elements within the White Fang that still use peaceful protests as their voice. They are the ones we need to support, once people see that not every Faunus supports violence then we can beat Adam and his supporters." Kali said proudly trying to make her daughter feel better.

"But…tell me about what you are doing? Where are you?" she asked Blake, changing the conversation to something more cheerful.

"I'm at Beacon…" Blake began to say only to watch as her mother's ears popped up.

"Oh, that is wonderful. Does Eli still teach there?" she asked, very happy that Blake was at Beacon.

"Professor Frost? Yes, he does. We actually just returned from a five day trip to Patch for a survival class…With my team." Blake was surprised that her mother knew her teacher on a first name basis.

But Kali begged to know more about her team, and Blake felt that as their conversation continued that it was making her feel a lot better about things.

"Well Ruby Rose is our team leader, she is two years younger then the rest of us but she is just as skilled if not more so than a lot of people our age. She is actually very surprising." Blake said.

She explained that while Ruby looked cute and innocent that she was extremely skilled in using her scythe in battle. But told her mother that she was one of the most cheerful and friendly people she could ask to meet.

"Hmm…I swear that sounds familiar…oh well, never mind." Kali shrugged as she asked Blake to continue.

"She also has a younger sister who is a wolf Faunus." Blake watched as her mother's ears shot upright again and she reached for something off screen, "Mom? Are you alright?".

"I'm fine dear, just remembered something. But you said you are at Beacon? And Eli Frost still teaches there?" she asked getting a nod from Blake.

"He teaches wilderness survival and Human/ Faunus relations. I heard that he was with dad at the rally in Vale. Is that true?".

"Yes dear. Eli saved his life and they both try and keep in touch. He has such a wonderful family, I've met his wife during our calls. She is so polite and caring, Eli always says how lucky he is to have met her." Kali explained as she held up her scroll, "He sent some pictures, don't they look happy?".

Blake's voice died in her throat, she could not believe what she was looking at.

The picture was of Eli with his arms around Summer as Luna and Ruby sat in front of them. It was a picturesque family.

But part of Blake had to wonder why Ruby did not mention that her dad was a teacher at Beacon, though as she thought about it, there were signs that she chose to ignore. Like how Ruby knew her way through the Emerald Forest, and why Eli is so friendly with her above other students.

"Blake? Are you there dear?" Kali asked a little concerned as to why her daughter was being so quiet.

"Sorry, mom…I wasn't expecting that. It's alright though, just a little surprising." Blake said waving it off as she continued to talk about her team, her mother being a little surprised that a Schnee was on her team, but was glad to hear that she was being more friendly then when she had started which put her at ease.

Blake asked where her father was, wishing to talk with both of them.

"Sorry, Blake he's away on the other end of the island. He won't be back for a few days, you know he has gotten really busy after stepping down as leader. Honestly, I think he's trying to gather influence again, he can see what the White Fang is becoming." Kali explained before giving a tired sigh.

Seeing that Ghira had thrown himself into his work around their home to try and keep all Faunus on a peaceful footing when it came to protesting and voicing their views.

Blake continued talking with her mother for a while and when she looked at the time she realised that the others would be back any moment.

"Mom…I'm sorry but I really need to go. I asked the others if I could have the room for the call and I don't want to keep the place to away for too much longer." Blake said, apologising.

"Blake it's alright, you've made me so happy. And remember, your father and I love you. Don't ever forget that." Kali said beaming with pride, "And call us whenever you like Blake, we'll always be happy to hear from you.".

"I love you mom. I'll talk to you later." giving her a little wave Blake ended the call and felt like a massive weight had been lifted off her shoulders, just in time for Ruby to walk in.

"Blake? Are you alright?" she asked getting a nod from her partner.

"I'm fine Ruby…I really needed to do that. It was something I should have done from the beginning…" she was happy that Ruby was concerned, she knew that the idea of making the call to her mother was weighing heavily on her. And Ruby had been happy to keep her distance but let Blake knew that she would be there if she needed her.

"I hope it went well. Did it?" she asked hopefully, she gave a sigh of relief when Blake gave her a nod.

"It went fine…but there was something that came up that I want to talk to you about…but it's sensitive I'm guessing." she explained hoping that asking about Eli would not ruin her friendship with Ruby.

"Well we have some time before Yang and Weiss come back, I'm all ears." she said hopping up on her bunk.

"When I was talking to my mother she mentioned that Professor Frost was still in touch with my father. In fact, he sent a picture of his family…" Blake said carefully trying to pick her words so she did not sound like she was trying something sneaky.

"Oh…" was all Ruby could say as she stopped smiling and suddenly found the ceiling more interesting.

"Yeah…Ruby if you're keeping it a secret I won't say anything but I would like to know why hide something like that?" Blake asked.

"We all agreed not to say anything…Dad, he just wanted me to have a normal time here, it's already frustrating that everyone looks at me differently because I was moved two years forward. But if everyone was to find out that my dad is my teacher…well, things would just get worse." Ruby finished with a sigh.

"Blake…Eli is my dad, but he is my teacher first while I'm here. It's hard for me to deal with because I just want to hug him because he is special…he was always there for me growing up." she explained, "When I first unlocked my semblance he thought I was ill and he rushed me home, mom said he was terrified that he had pushed me too hard during my training.".

She remembered that day fondly, she had been tempted to milk them for cookies but when they started kissing each other she had to mention she was awake.

"I promise Ruby I won't say anything. Why would I anyway? Professor Frost saved my fathers life after all." Blake said with a friendly smile, really hoping Ruby was not mad or upset.

Ruby was quiet for a moment before she hopped off her bunk and gestured for Blake to follow her.

* * *

Eli sighed loudly as he looked at the stack of papers on his desk, it was the downside to missing five days of work.

"Maybe I can set fire to them…" he mused aloud as he heard a knock on his office/ personal room, "Come in!" he called out only for the door to open and for Ruby to poke her head in.

"Can we come in?" she asked with a smile.

"Sure…Blake, nice to see you. What can I do for you two girls then?" he asked as Ruby looked at Blake, who was looking a little uneasy.

"Dad…Blake found out." Ruby said simply as Eli looked at her and Blake before leaning back in his chair, letting out a sigh as he pondered what he was going to say.

"Blake…I'm guessing Ruby has already explained why this isn't public knowledge?" he asked, getting a nod from Blake.

"Good. Because while I'm her step-father, I treat her the same as if she was my daughter, always have. But I treat her the same as any other student here, at least within reason." he said with a small chuckle.

"Dad there was something else…" Ruby asked putting on the charm as Eli simply opened his arms as Ruby catapulted herself into his arms in a big hug.

"Summer is going to want one when you see her next, Luna too." Eli said, ruffling Ruby's hair as Blake tried not to feel awkward and the display of family bonds happening in front of her.

"But I guess I really should have expected this anyway…sending family pictures to Ghira might not have been the wisest choice." Eli mused, he had tried to one-up the man on family photos and had decided to go all in.

"Blake I can't obviously force your silence on this but I would rather have it not public knowledge that I'm Ruby's step-father. I know it will come out sooner or later but just to let you know that Ruby's god-mother is also here and she will not tolerate bullying." he watched as Blake gave him a surprised look.

"God-mother…" she repeated as she began to think about it and it dawned on her, "Do you mean Professor Goodwitch?".

"Smart girl. But yes Glynda is Ruby's god-mother, and as stern, as she acts, she has a kind heart." looking down at Ruby he gave her a smile, "Ruby do you mind stepping out for a moment. Just got to talk to Blake for a moment, don't worry I won't keep her too long. A few minutes at most." Ruby nodded and hopped off, leaving the office and saying that she would wait for Blake in the hall.

"Right…being serious for a moment. Ruby is my daughter in all but blood, that being said I am protective of her, so I'm only going to say this once." Blake felt the temperature in the room drop as Eli spoke, "If you harm her in any way Blake there will be nowhere on Remnant you will be able to hide from me…and before you say anything I know you were once a member of the White Fang.".

Blake froze on the spot. She had been promised by Ozpin that her past was sealed.

"But Ozpin said…" she began to say but was stopped by Eli holding his hand up.

"Only the faculty know Blake. No one else. And it is going to stay that way you have my word. Did you think that Ozpin would be the only person who knew about it? The White Fang in Vale is listed as a terrorist organization, and our job is to protect the students." Eli explained calmly, "That being said you have left them because of their methods, correct? Then that is the end of it as far as I'm concerned, Ozpin made the choice to let you in so clearly he trusts you. But there is something you could help me with…".

Eli slid over a picture of his brother, Lucas.

"Have you seen him?" Eli had made sure to have a clear picture of his little brother, "This is my brother Lucas, he joined the White Fang shortly after the Vale massacre. I need to find him and get him out.".

"I'm sorry but I haven't…" Blake admitted, "Even if he was at our bases throughout Vale there is little chance I would see him since we wear masks. I'm sorry…".

"No reason to apologise Blake, all I need to do is to find him and drag his idiotic ass home. My mother is worried sick and my other brother is helping to track him down, I need to find him before he either hurts himself or someone innocent." Eli said hoping that he would be able to pick up the trail soon enough.

"You can go now, don't want to keep Ruby waiting…" Eli said before turning back to his desk and going over his papers, leaving Blake to leave his office and meet back up with Ruby outside.

* * *

Right hope you enjoy, things are a bit slow on this I will admit. But as mentioned at the top, I do have something in the tubes that should be up in the next few days.


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, no real reason for why it has taken so long to update this. But the last part of this chapter I looked at it and really just did not like how it looked so rewrote the whole thing. But hopefully, the next chapter won't take as long but hope you enjoy this.

* * *

Neo sighed as she looked through the private scroll she had been given by Ozpin before going on her assignment.

She missed everyone, especially Eli, but she could not contact anyone without putting them in danger. The only person she could keep in contact was Ozpin through a private number, and the only other person who knew about her assignment was Qrow and he was not even in the kingdom.

Ozpin had asked if she would be willing to go undercover to look into the increase of serious crimes linked to a person of interest that had been brought up by Ozpin, of course, he had not said who this person was but said that if they could get ahead of their actions they could avert any plans they have.

Currently, she was sitting in a warehouse in downtown Vale by the docks sitting on a crate she listened to her 'new boss' talk about a business venture with a member of the White Fang.

"So? Are we in agreement?" he asked as he brushed some dust off his white coat.

"As long as you supply the dust you'll get your money, human." the White Fang grunt said before handing him a piece of paper, "That is where the drop will be, three days from now. Have the dust or you won't get paid. Just don't make us regret this deal." the man left the warehouse leaving Neo and her boss alone.

"Well, he seemed rather cheerful for an animal, at least from those White Fang folks. What do you think Neo?" he asked only for her to shrug, she really did not care that much as she was just meant to be a bodyguard, not a business partner.

"Come now Neo, this will make you a very wealthy woman. Smile a bit." Neo raised an eyebrow as she signalled him to wait a moment before bringing up the news story of when Ruby beat him.

"Oh…Little Red isn't going to be a problem. She got lucky and even when that other huntress arrived…it wasn't a good night, alright? Could have gone better." he admitted as Neo began typing a message.

'Just make sure you don't get fixated on this. It'll be a pain if all this falls apart because of some silly attempt at revenge.' she showed him the message and he sighed as she typed again, 'Seriously Roman, leave it. We focus on this, it'll be easy.' Roman took a moment before agreeing.

"No promises though if we cross paths again…" he promised Neo who kept a straight face as he began to walk out of the warehouse with Neo trailing behind, gently swinging her parasol around as she hoped they would not come across Ruby.

'And Ozpin's orders…I might have to fight people I see as family. I have to keep my cover at all costs.' she thought as they left the warehouse into the cool night air of Vale.

Hopefully, if she ever did encounter Ruby or Yang but hopefully she could end any fight before it started.

* * *

"Ruby? Are you really sure about this? It's meant to be a family get together and you want us all to come?" Blake asked their leader as she seemed to vibrate with excitement.

"Listen it's not like it's going to be a bother or anything, I mean you'll get along with everyone there." Yang said, "Besides Summer said it was alright and it was her idea to get everyone together anyway. So you can both come along, it'll be fun.".

Weiss and Blake had both been taken by surprise by being asked if they wanted to join them for a family get-together, of course, Weiss was mostly confused about meeting Yang and Ruby's family, especially after the rocky start she had with them.

"Besides Weiss, you have to come, you haven't met my little sister yet. Blake has and you liked her right?" Ruby asked getting a nod from her partner, "See? Trust me you'll love it. And grandpa Mel is going to be there, he's amazing. He tells such good stories.".

"Yeah, unlike Port's stories, Grandpa Mel's are great. If you're not laughing by the end of them you have no sense of humour. He's come all the way from Menagerie to see everyone." Yang said smiling joyfully.

"He's from Menagerie? He's a Faunus?" Weiss asked, sounding a little uneasy, "Um… wouldn't it be a little awkward with me being there?" Yang sighed at Weiss's comment.

"It'll only be awkward if you make it awkward Weiss. Grandpa Mel is super nice and our little sister Luna is friendly to everyone. But I will warn you first, she doesn't handle the hate against Faunus well, so don't say anything negative to her and you'll be fine." the brawler warned.

Ruby also mentioned that her step-father would be there along with his mother and two siblings. And all of them were wolf faunus.

"Look it's alright with everyone that you can come if you want. My family wants to meet you both anyway. I mean Blake has already met my mom and Luna so it won't be super awkward." Ruby explained, "Trust me it'll be fun.".

Weiss and Blake looked at each other, but Blake already knew what Ruby was not saying and hoped that Weiss did not act like a Schnee. She really liked Luna herself, the little girl was a ray of sunshine and she had to admit she was adorable.

But Blake was slightly concerned about meeting the Professor Frost's family, she was not sure if she could handle it. But at the same time, she could not just simply say no to Ruby.

'I must admit it would be interesting to meet them.' Blake wondered as Ruby jumped up and down with excitement, she always wondered how Ruby could always be so full of energy. But it seemed to always bring a smile to her face.

"Well, I'm up for tagging along. It'd be nice." Blake finally said getting a hug from Ruby which took her by surprise, "What about you Weiss?".

"Well…I guess I could. As long as its alright?" Weiss said still clearly feeling uneasy about being around so many Faunus.

"For the last time yes. Now get ready, we leave in fifteen minutes. It's a small park in the outskirts of Vale. Shouldn't take us that long to get there anyway. I think everyone is there anyway." Yang said as she grabbed her shades off the table.

It did not take that long to arrive at the park, and as Ruby and Blake led the group towards the park they had a moment to talk between themselves as Yang and Weiss brought up the rear.

"Blake I did tell dad not to mention that he knows your parents, just in case Weiss gets tipped off to you being…you know." Ruby mentioned, not wanting to reveal Blake's secret to Weiss until she was ready.

"Thanks, Ruby, I really hope I can get to a point that I can tell Weiss without making things strange but I do appreciate the thought." Blake replied.

"How to you think Weiss will react to meeting both my dads?" Ruby wondered out loud, looking carefully over her shoulder at Weiss who was talking to Yang who seemed to be tuning her out.

"I'm not sure…but it will be interesting." Blake answered, "I just hope everything goes well, I honestly doubt she will have ever been around so many Faunus in her life. So I can't tell you how things will actually go.".

"I know…I just hope I was right about doing this. I just want us to be the team I know we can be. I don't want any more fighting between us." Ruby was hopeful that they could work together as a team, but she was aware that they would still argue as they would be spending the next four years together.

"We will be Ruby, you don't have to worry about that. As long as we all work together then things will work out." Blake said trying to reassure Ruby that they would be a great team, it was something that she had taken note of and something that Ruby seemed to be fixated on.

She had guessed that it was mostly down to the fact that she was the youngest leader at Beacon and still felt as if she had something to prove to everyone.

* * *

The family get together was set up to be held in a peaceful park on the outskirts of Vale. They had snacks and a barbeque all ready to go and Eli was a little nervous.

While Tai dealt with the barbeque, already having Raven doing her backseat grilling, he and Summer were making sure there was enough food and drinks to go around. Andrea would be arriving shortly with Mia and Fenric while Mel was going to take a little longer to arrive as he insisted on arriving himself.

They had invited Glynda as well but since Qrow was out of the kingdom she was unsure if she would arrive.

"Are you alright Eli? You seem a little on edge?" Summer asked as she gently rubbed his arm, "Is it about meeting the rest of Ruby and Yang's team?".

"No. It's Mel, I can't help but think that there is something he isn't telling everyone. He's like Ozpin, not always telling the whole story. I'd honestly hate to play poker with those two." he explained as he watched Luna look around every time she heard something, hoping to see her sisters.

"Oh don't be like that. He's fine. He was just looking forward to meeting everyone again, it has been four years after all." Summer said trying to reassure Eli that nothing bad was going to happen.

"Yeah…maybe I am just being paranoid." Summer smiled as she kissed him on the cheek, "Come on I think I can hear Ruby coming." he chuckled as he turned and saw Ruby shooting towards him with her semblance, rose petals spreading out behind her and the rest of her team trying to catch up.

"Mom! Dad!" she latched onto the two of them in a hug as Luna ran over and joined in.

"Hey, kiddo. Got here a little early didn't you?" Eli asked hugging his daughter as the rest of the team arrived.

"Professor Frost, what are you doing here?" Weiss asked clearly surprised that one of her teachers was standing in front of her.

"Eli's my step-dad." Ruby answered with a seemingly permanent smile on her face, "But he's an awesome dad! And my other dad is Tai-Yang, he's the one being harassed by Raven at the barbeque.".

"Other dad?" Weiss questioned, not sure what she could say to that.

"Yeah." Raven said deciding to take the straight forward approach, "Things happened a long time ago, I got back together with Tai and Summer moved in with Eli before they got together and had Luna a couple of years later." everyone looked at Raven, surprised at her bluntness.

Yang looked at Weiss hoping she would not say anything but it was Blake that spoke up first.

"I wouldn't have expected you to reveal yourself to anyone else Professor Frost. I thought you wanted to keep it under wraps." she asked, not expecting him to admit to being Ruby's step-father.

"There was a reason why we didn't announce it to the world, I wanted Ruby to have a normal experience without people giving her grief because her step-father or godmother are teachers. Besides Weiss was the only one who doesn't know on your team." he explained causing the trio to nod in agreement.

"Wait…Blake knew?" Weiss asked levelling a gaze at Blake.

"She only found out the other day Weiss, so don't worry, you haven't been left out like it was some sort of conspiracy." Eli explained as Luna dangled off his back in a hug.

"Wait…who is your godmother then?" Weiss asked only for Ruby to look at the floor as she mumbled her answer, "What did you say? Speak up.".

"I said it's Professor Goodwitch…she's dating my uncle Qrow." Ruby said with a roll of her eyes as they stared in shock at having two of the most well-known names in Beacon as family.

"Do you really think it would matter if you told them or not?" Blake asked, "Let's face it a lot of students are terrified of Professor Goodwitch. And you are undefeated in the training arena, even if someone did or said something they wouldn't be able to do much of anything afterwards.".

"Guess so Blake…guess I should have thought of it like that. Come on everyone Andrea, Mia and Fenric will be here soon. And Tai is getting the food ready." Eli explained as Summer gushed over her daughters.

"So…be honest girls what do you make of this?" Eli asked Blake and Weiss, "I'm guessing you're surprised?" he had had some idea of how Blake felt about the whole thing but would like to know their views.

"A little yes…but looking back on it the hints were there. I mean I should have seen it when Luna said she was Ruby's sister. You both have the same shade of amber eyes and your both wolf Faunus. I have not seen many around." Blake went on to explain as Eli nodded to his little girl.

"She does look more like Summer than me thankfully. I tell you, the moment I saw those eyes for the first time I was so happy. But she's grown up so fast…" Blake had to smile at the devotion Eli had to his daughters, it was clear to her by the tone of his voice that he would always be there for them.

"Does Ozpin know?" Weiss asked, clearly wanting a little more in terms of an explanation.

"Yes. He knows a lot more than he lets on. Which can sometimes be a pain…Besides I explained it all to him when he interviewed me for the teaching position at Beacon in the first place." Eli pulled out his scroll and flicked through the pictures he had saved on it, "My wedding day." he showed them the picture and even Weiss had to admit that Summer looked amazing.

"My family always will come first, regardless of what happens in the future…" he would not tell them about what dark forces are gathering but as long as they trained hard and used their brains they would survive.

"Where is that little furball!" an elderly man called out as he approached them and for a moment Weiss was curious as to who he was but when Eli sighed and ran his hand down his face it was obvious that he knew who he was.

"Mel! I was thinking you wouldn't show up for a little bit longer." Eli said hugging the older man, "I know you can't move that fast." he teased getting a roll of the eyes from Mel as he looked Eli up and down.

"Well, when you get to my age see how you'll like it. But gods boy you've grown." Mel said with pride as Eli mentioned that it had been four years since they last saw each other and that he could not have changed that much.

"Well never mind, where are my girls?" he asked looking over and whistling to get their attention, it only took a moment but soon Ruby, Luna and Yang were hugging him.

Weiss and Blake could only watch on in amusement as the old man gave the three of them attention and saying how much he missed them.

But part of Weiss was jealous of how Ruby and Yang had such a loving family.

'My own father is a cold, unfeeling monster who only cares about the Schnee name. The only one he cares about is Whitney. And mother only speaks to Winter, and that is rare enough itself…' she thought.

"Well, who are these two young ladies? Your team mates?" Mel said standing in front of Blake and Weiss.

"Yeah, Weiss is Yang's partner and Blake is mine." Ruby said introducing the rest of team RWBY, "Blake, Weiss. This is Grandpa Mel.".

"Mel Frost. Or as some people call me 'Old man Frost'." he joked, "Retired huntsman and documentary film maker." Blake suddenly noticed the name.

"I've heard of you. You did some of the more detailed documentaries on Grimm, you go out of the way spots to reveal hunting patterns, behaviour and even migration routes." Blake said, really pleased to meet someone who saw Grimm in such a unique manner, rather than something to simply kill.

"Not to mention the work on ancient ruins all over Remnant, did you know for example that there were temples dedicated to the Grimm in ancient times?" he said, "You though Blake are the spitting image of your mother. She is so proud of you.".

"Thank you…I got in touch with them the other day, mom was happy to see me." Blake blushed slightly, she wanted to see them again.

"It is nice to meet you Mr. Frost." Weiss said politely which made Mel sigh.

"You can drop the formalities Weiss. I've been alive long enough not to care about such things, I mean come on I'm over eighty." he chuckled, "Come on, let's go grab something to eat. Trust me when I say that you shouldn't leave my grandson unattended around food. We're not wolves for nothing.".

As if on cue they looked around and saw Eli almost inhale a hotdog that he had stolen while Tai and Raven were arguing.

"It would be a wonder if he actually chewed his food." Mel sighed as they headed over to the food before Eli and Raven ate it all.

* * *

Eli watched as several people approached the area where they were set up, one being Glynda and the others being Andrea, Fenric and Mia.

There was a family moment as Eli hugged his mother and two siblings as Mel joined in along with them, it was a bittersweet moment however as one of their family was missing after all.

"Mel, I'm sorry about how I acted when we discussed Lucas. I never wanted my son to join up with such dangerous people, I know the Vale massacre changed a lot of views of people but he's still my little boy and I want him back." Andrea said calmly but it was still clear that she was still deeply affected by it.

However it was Eli and Fenric who gave each other a brief gaze of understanding, it was something they were making plans for. Finding their brother and getting him back.

But both knew that if Andrea found out then she would do everything she could to stop them from putting their lives at risk from the White Fang.

"I know Andrea and I was wrong to word it how I did. While Lucas is free to do what he likes, there is a difference between following your own morals and blindly following someone else's." Mel explained and everyone agreed.

When everyone was settled around the picnic tables, Andrea gave both Weiss and Blake the once over, clearly surprised about seeing Ruby and Yang's partners at the get-together.

"So you are my granddaughter's team-mates?" she asked carefully looking over the two, "Tell us a little about yourselves."

"Alright mom, you don't have to interrogate them." Eli said hoping to save Ruby any embarrassment from Andrea, "And before you say anything I know what you're like. You did the same thing when I first brought Summer home.".

"I merely asked more about them? Is that so wrong?" Andrea asked defending herself.

"Fenric? Do you remember what Andrea said when Summer walked through the door?" Eli asked with a knowing smile as Andrea suddenly became aware of what he was talking about.

"Oh please, you cannot still be dwelling on that? I admit it was short sighted but I barely knew her." she said.

"Still counts mom. Don't worry just try not put the thumbscrews on too much." he teased as Andrea turned to Weiss first.

"So I must admit I was a little surprised when I found out that Ruby was on the same team as a Schnee, I would have thought you would have gone to Atlas." she wondered, "But I guess if there is any school I would have gone to it would have been Beacon.".

"I wanted a change of scenery, and honestly I felt as if it would be better for me rather than have my father looking over my shoulder every moment." Weiss said boldly, surprising the rest of her team.

"That is an interesting answer. What do you think of it so far?" Andrea asked, really close to asking her what she thought of her team but decided against it.

"It's certainly an eye opening experience." Weiss explained, "My father thought that this was just a phase for me but I've trained so hard to become a huntress that I was not going to just throw it away for his own plans.".

"Do you not get along with your father?" Fenric asked cautiously, hoping to not insult her asking such a straightforward question.

"My father…he is difficult. He…" Weiss sighed tiredly, "He planned out my whole life. But I want to do so much more than just be a Schnee…I love to sing but my father only see's it a gimmick to use at charity events. I trained with my sister Winter to be a huntress and he tried to get me to stop saying it was a waste of time.".

"That's ridiculous. How can a man do such a thing, no one should direct how their children should live." Andrea said, stunned that someone was so controlling, "I must admit I have never met him but I think I would slap him if I did." there were a few laughs at the remark, one of which being Weiss herself.

"But your all getting along now?" Mia asked, "Because Ruby's our little trouble maker after all. Be a shame if you…" she got cut off by Fenric clamping his hand over her mouth.

"Sorry about that…" he sighed, "Mia has a tendency to speak before thinking.".

"It's alright but to answer your question we do get along, now. I admit I caused a lot of trouble but I realised what I was doing and where it was going to end up for me." Weiss said, sounding happy that she was telling someone this, "And I am glad. Because what I want is for people to see me as Weiss, and not as just another Schnee.".

"Don't think I could argue with that." Mel said, "Well said young lady, well said.".

They continued talking about minor things before turning to Blake, who was secretly hoping that Ruby had been right about Eli telling his family not to reveal her Faunus heritage.

"Blake same question?" Mia teased, "We would love to hear more about Ruby and Yang's time in Beacon.".

Everyone could tell that Mia was fishing for embarrassing stories that she could bring up whenever she wanted.

"Well…Ruby and I love reading together, we both share a love of books." Blake said suddenly feeling nervous when all eyes were on her, "And she…" Eli could clearly see that Blake was feeling uneasy with all the eyes on her.

"Alright, you lot that's enough, your making Blake uncomfortable." Ruby said boldly, surprising Summer and Eli but making them chuckle at the same time.

Of course Ruby hugging Blake did not do anything for making things any less uncomfortable for Blake, who was now sporting a light blush on her cheeks at the physical contact.

* * *

"Dad! Please!" Ruby and Luna said together as they held up Eli's violin, he was actually surprised to see the instrument as he thought that he had left it back home. Of course, he looked over at Summer who gave him a sly look.

"It's been ages since we heard you play, please play!" Luna pleaded as her father smirked taking the violin and checked it over, making sure everything was perfect.

"Alright, everyone! I guess you've got a special treat today!" Eli called out as everyone faced him, "As my daughters made such a reasonable argument I will play something for you all. While it won't be as good as my 'private' performances…" he said looking at Summer with a knowing smile, "I hope you enjoy.".

Starting slowly Eli played a piece he had learnt over the years and knew by heart. It was a rather sad sounding piece but it was strangely beautiful at the same time. But he played almost the entire piece with his eyes closed and everyone could only sit in silence and listen.

As he came to the end of the piece he opened his eyes and saw everyone looking at him with surprise and awe before they gave him a round of applause.

"That was amazing Professor Frost." Blake said getting a nod of agreement from Weiss, "It was such a beautiful piece.".

"Thank you Blake, it was one of the first pieces I learnt completely. A lot of people enjoy it." Eli said thankful that everyone enjoyed it, "And please no professor Frost today, just Eli.".

"That was remarkable though, I have heard many soloists back in Atlas and they can't hold a candle to you. It always seemed staged when they play, having little or no emotion but your performance was breathtaking." Weiss all but announced with pride, quite clearly taking the subject of music, very seriously.

"Well thank you very much Weiss, I doubt I would ever go as a soloist though. I wouldn't give up being a teacher." setting the violin aside he was blindsided by a hug from Andrea.

"That was beautiful Eli. You can't stop making me proud can you?" she said letting him go, "My little pup is always full of surprises." she said making Eli blush as his ears went flat.

"Mom come on, I've said before I'm taller than you." he said as everyone chuckled, "And don't use 'mother knows best', because I don't think it would apply to this." Andrea's reply was to pinch his cheeks and coo at him, further embarrassing him.

* * *

Neo watched the family get together from a distance. She had been able to slip away from Roman and the warehouse just to see them all again.

She wanted to go and see Eli, to talk with him and explain why she had disappeared but her orders from Ozpin said it was necessary to maintain her cover.

She sat and opened a bottle of water she had brought with her, drinking as she watched Eli play tag with Ruby and Luna, with Summer joining in with the one called Blake, though she was a little out of her depth when it came to keeping up with the Rose family.

'I hope you don't hate me for this Eli…' she thought as she tried to stop herself from crying, 'Though I don't think things between us will ever be the same afterwards. If you can even look at me again.' hearing her scroll go off she looked at the message summoning her back to the warehouse for their next job.

'Hopefully, I can look at myself in the mirror without feeling sick after all this.' she thought sadly as she headed back into the city.

* * *

"Is that all?" Eli said smugly as he stood tall with his arms crossed, the game of tag had ended and no one had been able to touch him, "You didn't get anywhere near me.".

"But dad your really quick." Luna huffed as Eli just ruffled her hair, "Your quicker than me pup remember that. Don't worry you'll get me soon, your getting better and better control over your semblance.".

Luna's smile beamed and Eli was happy that she would still keep practising, sometimes he thought that she was actually faster than Ruby sometimes, but without getting some machines to measure just how fast they were going he could not be sure.

"Eli…" Fenric said walking up to him, "Look at this." looking at his brothers scroll he struggled to keep a straight face, "He's in Vale, we can get him tonight.".

"Is this accurate?" was the first question Eli asked, "We can't make go into this blind. And we have to make sure he's there first.".

"My friend is sure, he's been following the White Fang for the last three months. If he says Lucas is there then he's there." Fenric said firmly, keeping his voice down so no-one would overhear them.

"You want to do this tonight?" Eli asked, "It's a little short notice to just throw something together."

"It would be better to grab him now rather than wait and risk him disappearing." Fenric explained, already thinking over what they could do, "But it will be very hard with just the two of us.".

"I could ask Raven…I'd ask Qrow but I have no idea where he is at the moment." he explained, deciding to wait until it was a little quieter and things had settled down before asking Raven. She would be a welcome set of hands to drag Lucas out of the White Fang, the only thing the brothers could hope is that he was by himself or in an easy to reach area.

* * *

"Can't believe I agreed to this." Raven grumbled as she sat in the front seat of the rented van they had grabbed for their midnight excursion.

Eli and Fenric sat in the back, wearing casual clothing that did not stand out, just wanting to look like two men walking around.

"Your just the getaway driver Raven, we're the ones that could get shot at or even arrested by the police if we get caught." Eli explained making sure his woolly hat was covering his wolf ears, not wanting to get singled out as a Faunus for what they were about to do.

"And you didn't even tell Summer what you're doing… if something happens to you she is going to be very angry." she said firmly.

"I know. Trust me I do. But if we can get Lucas out then it will be worth it." Eli said only to get a sigh and shrug from Raven, and a mumbling of something that sounded a lot like 'your funeral'.

Stepping out into the cool night air, Eli and Fenric headed towards the meeting place where Fenric's contact had said they would find Lucas. At the moment they would go and make sure Lucas was actually there before they flagged Raven down to pick them up, there was no sense in getting everything going if he was not there.

"So, just a thought…. where are we going to hold him?" Eli asked as they walked through the streets.

"I'll take him home with me. We can't risk going to Andrea's place, she'd be more than a little upset." Fenric answered, knowing that their mother would be thankful for getting Lucas out but would also be furious that they had pretty much kidnapped him.

"Your place? I thought you were staying with mom?" Eli asked, turning into an alleyway.

"I was but with Mira there…I was getting flashbacks of being made to play with her. I truly believe my hair will turn grey before yours." Fenric sighed as they approached the small warehouse where they would find their brother.

At the end of the alley they stopped when the saw two White Fang grunts in the shadows ahead of them, they took a moment to look over that they were not seeing anyone that matched Lucas's height or build.

"Don't suppose they'll let us through?" Eli asked really wanting to knock some sense into the White Fang grunts.

"Doubtful…but let's try not to use brute force just yet. I'd rather just do a quick snatch and grab rather than an assault." Fenric said with a sigh as he took off his glasses and handed them over to Eli.

"Give me a moment." he said squatting down and resting against the wall of the alley, Eli watched as his brother's eyes seemed to roll into the back of his head and his head began to tilt randomly to one side or another. It went on like that for a few moments before his amber eyes returned to normal.

"The heck was that?" Eli asked, "Was that your semblance?".

"Yes. Sadly rather useless for a huntsman but for trying to find someone in a crowd it's rather useful. He's inside, with two other people, by the looks of it they are waiting for something to arrive." Fenric explained as he put his glasses back on.

"Well, all this time and I'm only now hearing about your semblance?" Eli asked sounding a little surprised that his brother did not tell him about it.

"Well, I forgot to mention it. I unlocked it while you were…recovering, I thought you had better things to focus on." Fenric said sighing when Eli ruffled his hair, "Will you stop that?".

"Sorry brother. I'm happy to hear that. Just wish mine wasn't a double edged sword." Eli said, "So how do you want to do this? Either way, we have to go past those two and I doubt we can just call him to come outside.".

Fenric took a moment and smiled, he had an idea and he guessed that his brother would enjoy it.

* * *

The two grunts outside the warehouse watched as a swirling black mass approached them, readying their batons they thought that it might be some strange Grimm but that clearly was not the case when a trashcan lid flew out of the mass and smacked the closest one right in the face, knocking him out cold.

The other one only watched as his friend hit the floor, but before he could act he was lifted off his feet by a rather angry looking wolf Faunus as another joined him from the alley.

"Why are you here?" Eli hissed, holding the young man nearly a foot off the ground.

The man was terrified enough at the sudden attack that he told Eli everything, "We're waiting on a Dust shipment, a human said he would be able to get a hold of all the Dust we could want.".

"Fine…just tell the police that when they arrive." Eli said before knocking him out and laying him down next to his friend.

"I've sent a message to Raven, she's pulling the van round now. Shall we throw caution to the wind?" Fenric asked, getting a nod from his older brother as he simply booted the door open.

"Eli? Is that you?" Lucas asked clearly surprised to see his two older brothers there, "Fenric? What are you doing here? You can't be here!" he argued moving around the table, wearing a White Fang uniform and one of the stupid looking masks.

"We're here for you dumbass. Now, this can happen one of two ways, you can come quietly or I'll drag you out by your damn ears." Eli warned, not in the mood to be messing around in such a situation.

"Come home Lucas, before you hurt yourself or someone else." Fenric said hopefully being a voice of reason in the situation.

"No! The humans must see we are not to be treated as slaves or lower beings. They will learn to fear us." Lucas spat in rage and Eli just took a few steps forwards and looked his brother dead in the eye.

"You look at me and say that again little brother. You and your White Fang buddies are causing more damage then the humans are, regardless of who it is there are idiots on both sides that will always try and spark another war." he said jabbing a figure into his chest.

"You know damn well there are plenty of humans out there that can work and live with us." he said as Lucas smacked his hand away and said something that was far from smart to say.

"Your whore of a wife doesn't count. She learnt her place…" Lucas did not get to finish as he knocked his brother out with a single blow to the jaw.

"Sorry brother but you insult Summer like that and your just asking for it…You two…" he said looking at the two other Grunts that were wisely standing aside for the moment, "We've called the police, It'd be wise if you were still here when they got here. Your buddies outside are unconscious so don't try and ask for help." Eli said as he lifted his brother up and with Fenric's help, dragged him out the warehouse to the waiting van.

* * *

Neo stood and watched in shadows as Eli and his brother drag a man out of the warehouse between them and dump him in the back of a van before speeding off.

She did not know how he had happened to be at the same warehouse where they were meant to be delivering a shipment of dust to the White Fang, but it was a wonder that they had not been spotted.

"Well this certainly throws a wrench into things doesn't it?" Roman sighed before putting the truck they were driving into reverse and heading back the way they came, "Oh well looks like the payday will have to wait for a few days. I'd rather not spend time in the company of Vale's hard working law enforcement." he rolled his eyes as they made their getaway.


	7. Chapter 7

Right...Um, I'm alive for starters. And I haven't forgotten or given up on this story. But seriously could do with a breather from real life stuff. Over the last two months, I've just had one thing after another dropped on my lap and it was really getting to me, all that on top of just a lack of inspiration to write.

I do still have the next two chapters on the go but I may have to re-write a fair amount of it because looking at it with a fresh outlook I'm not comfortable with how it's going, not going to say you'll have to wait months for the next chapter. Because you won't, it will be out in August at the latest.

* * *

Eli returned home late, having made sure that Lucas was secure at Fenric's home before he and Raven had returned the rental van and headed back home.

"Late night?" Summer asked as he flopped down onto the bed, "You and Raven have fun?" rolling over she looked at him as he rolled over to face her.

"I wouldn't use fun as the right word…" he groaned, "I'd rather not talk about it Summer, we were out with Fenric though." she looked at him, her silver eyes staring deep into his own eyes, if not his soul.

"It's about your brother, isn't it? You two aren't as secret as you'd like to think you are." she said with a small smile, "Where were you?" she asked poking his nose with each word.

Eli let out a tired sigh, knowing that telling Summer the truth would be risky but the best thing for him to do.

"A contact of Fenric's told us were to find Lucas, we went to get him and Raven drove the van…" he answered, "But I think it's going to be harder than we thought to get him back. Some of the things he said…they were what you'd expect from a fanatic."

"A fanatic? What do you mean?" she asked concerned about the situation, "Is it really that bad?".

"He called you a whore that knew her place beneath us. I just lost it, knocked him out in one punch. We took him back to Fenric's place and have him safely secured so he can't hurt anyone." Eli explained with a sigh, "I honestly couldn't believe that he was my brother with some of the stuff he was saying.".

"Eli…he needs help more than anything. Are you sure keeping him locked up is a smart idea?" Summer asked concerned that the two brothers might be crossing a line they should not be anywhere close to crossing.

"Summer…he was waiting for a Dust shipment, the only thing that they could use that much Dust for are bombs. My little brother is a terrorist…It's either we help him or hand him over to the VPD and have him rot in a jail cell." Eli said, hoping Summer would understand.

"Eli…" she said leaning forward and giving him a quick kiss, "I think you should get your family together and sort this out. Your heart is in the right place but you are walking a fine line. Just make sure you don't cross it." she explained as Eli let out a sigh of relief.

"I thought you'd hate me for doing it. But the last thing I want to see is my little brother in a morgue laying on a slab. He has to realise that the path he was going down would lead to bloodshed." Eli sighed, suddenly feeling the weight of everything pressing down on him.

"You won't Eli, hopefully, he will see how much people care about him and come around." Summer said trying to reassure Eli that things were going to work out, but she knew that it was easier said than done.

"Deal with it tomorrow darling, you've still got the rest of the weekend. Now get some sleep you deserve it." she said before snuggling up next to him, "Remember, your making breakfast tomorrow.".

* * *

Fenric sighed as he heard Lucas struggling to leave the house again, he had been nice and not tied him to the bed as Eli had suggested.

"The door is locked brother, just sit down and have something to eat." he said putting a simple breakfast out for them both a bowl of cereal, some toast and some orange juice.

"No! You are not my brother! My brothers are in the White Fang! You will pay for this!" Lucas spat trying to force the door open, however, what he did not know was that the door could hold up against a Boartusk ramming into it.

"I bet if you said that to our mother she would twist your ear like she did when we were young." Fenric replied completely ignoring the spiteful comments at the end of his brothers' little rant.

"Go on, I dare you. Tell me that Andrea isn't our mother." he challenged, hearing Lucas fall silent, "I thought so…come and sit, have something to eat. The others will be around later to talk.".

"Others…?" Lucas asked.

"Yes. Eli brought up that this is a family issue, so we will discuss it as a family. Andrea, Mira, Mel and Eli will be coming around and we will sit and talk. Oh, and if I were you I'd refrain from calling Summer a whore again, either in front of Eli or not. He was very angry if you hadn't noticed from your jaw throbbing." Fenric slid over the toast as he poured himself some orange juice.

Lucas remained silent, clearly not keen on changing his wording.

"What about Luna? You know how she would find it if her uncle was killed because he was following someone else's views. And would you believe who her mother is? Oh, wait its Summer." Fenric said, hoping that the tone of his voice was clear enough for Lucas to actually listen.

When Lucas still did not answer Fenric just sighed, "Fine…but regardless of what you think about Summer, keep your mouth shut about her if you can't say anything respectful.".

Fenric knew he came across as sometimes distant but he really did care for Summer as if she was another sister, sometimes he wished she was, considering how frustrating Mira often made him.

So much like Eli, if someone insulted his family they would be answering for it.

Hearing the doorbell go he unlocked the Grimm-proof door and let in his family, watching as Andrea rushed straight over to Lucas and hugged him, "Oh Lucas! You're alright." she rattled off a dozen rapid-fire questions.

"I'm alright mom…just a little sore." Lucas said before he felt a pain in his ear as his mother twisted it.

"Your lucky that is all you are! What is wrong with you!? Going off and joining the White Fang, especially now that they are being led by a terrorist!" Andrea growled, "I thought I taught you better than that!?".

"Mom, let him speak." to everyone's surprise Eli spoke to his defence, "Considering his lack of an explanation when he actually joined, I'd like to hear his reasoning." Lucas stared at him in surprise before looking around at everyone else, seeing that they would also like to hear why he joined.

"I wanted to make a difference…after the massacre in Vale, it was clear that peaceful means weren't going to work." Lucas explained while not meeting anyone's gaze, "That's why I joined, we were going to earn the respect we deserve by force.".

"Is that it? Only a fool would believe that!" everyone looked over a Mel who had been silent since his arrival, "Lucas, respect is never earned by force or fear. And your actions give all other Faunus who don't follow the White Fang a nice large target on their backs for every racist thug in Vale.".

Mel did not hold back his frustration, "In the time I've been in Vale I've seen what happens to most Faunus businesses that try to operate in the main parts of Vale. Smashed windows and threats to move elsewhere. The White Fang does not help this." Mel said.

"You may have thought you were doing the right thing Lucas but that is far from an acceptable reason for joining. Trying to force people to respect you by doing what? Blowing up trains? Robbing businesses that refuse to serve Faunus? Attacking people?" Lucas could not meet Mel's gaze as he looked down.

"Mel, I think you got your point across." Eli said stopping the older man before he got too angry, "Lucas…you know what we're trying to get across to you. We don't want to see you in jail or worse because of this, right everyone?" he asked getting nods of agreement from the family.

"That being said…what you said in the warehouse was downright insulting." he said firmly, "You pull anything like that again and I will kick your arse all around Patch." he finished before handing over the talking to someone else.

"Yes…Lucas you know I'm happy to let you live your life but I can't simply let you continue like this. I lost my husband years ago I do not want to lose any of my children…" Andrea explained as she sat down next to Lucas, "Why did you not come to us Lucas? Why run off like that to put yourself and other people in danger?".

"Because I wanted to do something…" he said as if he was admitting to something, "Everyone else was doing so much, Eli is a teacher, Fenric and Mira are travelling the world. Everyone was doing their own thing." Lucas explained.

"And you thought that it was alright to join a terrorist group?" Mira asked, "I've done my share of stupid things brother but that is on a whole other level.".

"What am I going to do then!?" Lucas argued, "What can I do?" he questioned, sounding empty more than anything.

"Leave the White Fang." Andrea answered, "Please Lucas, just don't go back to them." she said hugging Lucas.

"Mother…they won't just let me leave. It's not that simple, not with Adam. He see's everything that doesn't align with his views as a weakness." he explained which made Eli chuckle.

"Oh don't worry about him, brother…" Eli said with a small smirk, "Don't worry about him, I'm got something very special planned. It'll take a little time but he'll get what's coming to him.".

He needed to call Ghira and ask Blake if they had any information on Adam, something that not many others knew about him, not only would it get his attention but it would hopefully make him look like a danger to any Faunus if he was lucky.

* * *

"Eli are you certain about this?" Ozpin asked carefully, actually wondering if Eli had lost his mind.

"Well, it is certainly an interesting idea…" Glynda admitted, "Doing so could completely ruin the image of Adam leading the White Fang in Vale, while it might not do much for other groups it would certainly be a positive outcome for us." Eli was actually surprised by her support as she usually went against outrageous ideas.

"If we can remove the clearly growing threat of the White Fang in Vale it would certainly make things easier. The fact that they were buying up that much Dust is a sign we cannot ignore." Eli explained, having read the report by the VPD on the warehouse arrests.

They had seen documents and communications for an order of enough Dust to flatten a sizeable chunk of downtown Vale. But there was another thing they had found at the warehouse which had sent a chill down their spines. A barrel of chemicals that were capable of being turned into a weapon if refined into a gas.

"That is a horrifying thought…chemical weapons used in a built-up area like downtown Vale, I could not even begin to guess how many people would be killed by such a weapon." Glynda thought out loud, Ozpin agreed with her wholeheartedly.

"I've already brought this to the council's attention, they have already started going through the emergency response procedure to deal with any possible future threats. While I don't completely agree with your… head on approach, it has shown us what the White Fang can be capable of." Ozpin said, knowing that the White Fang would likely do something in retaliation for losing so much Dust.

While Ozpin would expect some sort of reaction from the White Fang he knew they would not launch an attack against Beacon itself, it would be tantamount to a suicide mission.

"Very well then Eli, you can do this task against Adam Taurus. But please use a light touch, I'd rather avoid having Beacon wrapped up in this." he explained, "So do what you have to do, but keep it as quiet as you can.".

"Oh don't worry Oz, I've got a plan anyway. In fact I'm fairly certain Beacon won't even be mentioned by the end of this, I just have to talk to a few people and Adam Taurus will be scrambling to recover what is left of his ruined reputation." if Ozpin knew any better he could have sworn that Eli was looking forward to ruining any credibility that Adam had with the Faunus.

* * *

Ruby was happy to have seen everyone over the weekend, she was especially happy to have seen Grandpa Mel again, part of her did not want to leave him as he was so much fun to be around.

But she was surprised at well things had turned out, she thought that exposing her relations to the rest of the team would have turned ugly but when Weiss had been very friendly to her family those fears had disappeared.

Not that she would say it out loud but she liked the friendly version of Weiss more than the other.

Hearing a knock at the door she marked the page she was reading for Doctor Oobleck's class and went to answer the door, only to see Eli on the other side.

"Hi…Dad." she said quietly getting a smile from him as he looked around.

"Hey, kiddo. Did I interrupt studying?" he asked.

"It's alright. Was there something though? You look…eager." Yang asked looking at her uncle, "Your planning something aren't you?" Yang said clearly wanting to get involved.

"I'd never plan anything Yang, you know that, but I do need to borrow Blake for a moment. If I may?" he asked getting a nod from Blake as she tucked her book away and followed Eli out.

"Don't worry I won't keep her away for too long." he called back as they headed to his office.

"Can I ask what this is about Professor Frost?" Blake asked, "Am I in some sort of trouble?".

"Nope. Just need to ask you a few questions…away from any prying ears." he replied opening the door to his office, letting Blake in before shutting it and taking a seat at his desk.

"Now Blake, I'm going to ask you something that maybe a little sensitive but I'm hoping that I'm not stepping over my boundaries." he said as he pulled out a notebook and a pen.

"Alright…Tell me everything you know about Adam Taurus." he asked calmly as Blake merely stared back at him with a confused look on her face.

"Why would you want to know that? He's become a monster…" Blake said, wondering why Eli would want to know anything about Adam.

"If your curious about why I'm asking it's because I want any dirt you might have on him. Stuff that he would not want the general public finding out about." he explained.

"Why would you want to know about stuff like that?" Blake asked, confused about why Eli want to know about Adam, she knew Adam had become pretty much a monster as bad as any Grimm.

"Well he is the figurehead and leader for the White Fang in Vale, right? Well if he becomes a joke then it makes it harder to recruit then doesn't it?" he explained hoping that she would see what he was trying to accomplish.

"Well I can tell you what I can but there isn't a whole lot really. It's more telling how far he will go for his goals rather than saying he would be ashamed or disgusted by something." Blake explained, "I take it you heard about my last mission with him? He was going to kill dozens of innocent people just to make a point. He's no better than the Grimm.".

"Well, that is certainly something…has he ever willingly put Faunus lives at risk?" Eli asked carefully, not aiming to reopen old memories that might be painful for Blake.

"Yes…its not unheard of for him to send Faunus into dangerous situations. It was not well known but even before the White Fang in Vale became violent there were still groups carrying out raids and attacks. Adam merely gathered their support and welcomed them into the White Fang." Blake knew that the Faunus that Adam had welcomed in were nothing but fanatics.

"Well that is certainly interesting, not what I was hoping to get but it certainly works. Thank you Blake, you can go now. Have fun, study, spend time bonding some more with your team." Eli rattled off as he tucked the notebook away, "I know Ruby will be likely waiting outside for you, she speaks highly of you.".

Eli was not expecting her to blush, not by a long shot. He really hoped nothing was going on as he could really do without more stuff on his plate.

* * *

Blake tried not to slam the door as she left the office. She had no idea why she blushed when she heard Ruby spoke highly of her, they were friends and partners, she always praised her. It was one of Ruby's quirks that she enjoyed, the young huntress always tried to brighten the day of others around her.

"Blake! Come on we're going to grab something to eat before the rush starts." Ruby called from the other end of the hall, clearly on her way to meet her once Eli had finished talking with her.

Her smile was so warm and genuine, it was a great feeling to be partnered with someone who was always happy to see you.

"Coming Ruby!" she answered back heading over to her partner, "Where you on your way to check up on me?" Blake asked with a small smirk as they headed to the cafeteria.

"Yes…I wasn't worried or anything I just wanted to ask if you wanted to come and grab something to eat with us." Ruby answered, unable to come up with a better sounding reason to be there.

"Why would you be worried?" Blake asked, "Should I be worried?".

"No!" she all but shouted, "I mean no…its just sometimes dad can be a little over-protective and I thought he might try and scare you or something. It wouldn't be the first time." she said with a sigh.

She retold a story about a teaching assistant who had called Luna a mongrel, he was found the next day shoved into a garbage can with a cloth shoved in his mouth as a gag with the word, 'racist' written in elegant handwriting on his forehead.

"And that was Eli? Wow…" Blake honestly would not be surprised but for him to do something like that as a teacher was rather risky as it could cost him his position.

"Not entirely…His own assistant for the survival classes, Neo. She happily helped him. She was the one that wrote 'racist' on his forehead." Ruby explained wondering if Neo was a bit of a bad influence on her father because of his habit of taking things to crazy levels.

"I haven't seen Neo for a while actually, she hasn't been around lately. And dad doesn't know where she is either, all he knows is that Ozpin has her on a job." Ruby explained as they continued along the corridor.

"Well I know he cares about you, it's obvious. My father is much the same, except he's bigger…" Blake knew that if she put Ghira and Eli back to back then her own father would be almost a foot taller than Eli.

Blake pulled out her scroll and showed her an old picture of her family, something she needed to update with a more recent one, but it showed a younger version of herself with her mother and father.

"Oh my gosh, he's huge." Ruby said amazed at the towering form of Blake's father but with a friendly smile.

"He acts tough but he's actually big softy…well, he was the last time I saw him. I haven't seen him for so long…" Blake said frowning.

"Hey, I got an idea…Why don't you go and visit at the end of our first year? I mean there is plenty of time, right?" Ruby suggested hoping to cheer up her partner.

"That is a good idea actually, I'll start looking into that. It'll be nice to see them again, rather than just talking over a call." Blake said, glad that Ruby had come along when she did.

* * *

Ozpin sat in his tower looking through Beacon documents, beginning to understand the problems that the other staff often discussed the amount of paperwork. He had even briefly thought to what Eli had often said about burning it all just to get rid of it.

Hearing a call coming in he actually thanked whoever it was, unaware that it would put them at a disadvantage in the future.

"Qrow you weren't meant to check in for another week…" Ozpin began to say only to be cut off by Qrow.

"Oz! I'm with Amber, she was attacked we're on our way back now. I need a landing pad cleared!" Qrow shouted, shaken by what had happened, something not easily done.

"What? I'll have Glynda with me when you land. What is her condition!?" Ozpin asked, quickly getting up and heading to the elevator.

"Weak heartbeat, minor injuries but her aura is all over the place. She was attacked by someone…" as the door shut on the elevator he caught the sight of a Bullhead coming in very fast.

"How could this have happened?" Glynda asked, "I thought her identity was safe?".

"It was…She was allowed to wander by herself because she had better control of her abilities than other maidens…The only request I made was to have Qrow check in on her during any time she moved long distances." Ozpin said firmly, very few people knew that Amber was a maiden, and even less knew of her location. So her attack was extremely worrying.

"Is she going to be alright though?" Qrow asked, leaning up against the pillar of the under works of Beacon.

"Hopefully yes…her vitals, while weak are now stable. I've linked her vitals to my scroll so I can monitor them at all times. So if anything changes, even in the slightest, we'll know." Ozpin let out a tired sigh as he lent a little more on his cane, feeling tired.

"So…when she recovers, hopefully, she will be able to give us some more information on her attackers." Ozpin knew it was likely connected to Salem but did not want to jump to conclusions, if it was a random attack then it was still extremely planned out.

"If she recovers Oz…Her aura is all over the place, you knew how skilled she was using it. She might be stuck in a coma for good." Qrow said, before taking a long swig from his flask.

"You don't know that Qrow, she's safe and can recover." Glynda said, about to ask what was wrong with him but then saw the look on his face and it spoke volumes about what was going through his mind. He blamed himself.

"Don't you dare…Don't you dare blame yourself for this Qrow." Glynda said walking over to Qrow and putting her hands on his shoulders and looking him in the eyes, "We could not have known this was going to happen. Amber always checked in with us and never gave any hints she was being followed or watched.".

"Still doesn't make me feel any better about this Glynda, she trusted me to look out for her." Qrow answered sombrely, "And I failed.".

"No, you didn't Qrow. Amber is alive, that is the most important thing right now, and I will do everything in my power to help her. Glynda why don't you go and get Qrow something to eat, get some rest. I'll stay here a little longer." Ozpin said as he turned back to the machine keeping the maiden alive.

* * *

Eli watched as Lisa Lavender entered the café he had asked to meet her at, he had been a little surprised when she actually agreed to meet him out of the blue like this.

"Well Professor Frost, it's been a while hasn't it?" she asked smiling softly as she sat down across from him.

"Well, I think it's safe to say we've both been rather busy." Eli said setting his coffee down, "Hope you don't mind me ordering ahead, had a bit of a hectic week. I think though this will be worth your attention though…" he said with a small grin as she ordered her drink.

"So…what does a professor of Beacon what with the Vale news?" she asked taking out her scroll and setting it to one side.

"Well, the last few days I've been doing some digging and have come across some rather interesting information about Adam Taurus that you might like the public to know." Eli said placing a file on the table, gesturing for her to read through it.

Lisa was sceptical but looked anyway, and was shocked by what she was reading.

"Is this accurate?" she asked looking up at Eli with surprise, "Because this could do a lot of damage.".

"Straight from the mouths of two former White Fang members, whose names I will not divulge to protect their safety. But that's what I'm hoping, I want to ruin Adam Taurus and make him look like the monster he is." he explained, "And honestly, I'd like to avoid putting you in his crosshairs, but you're the only person I would trust with this considering your habit of getting the truth.".

"I'm a big girl Professor Frost I can look after myself." Lisa said taking her coffee when it arrived, "Besides I don't doubt Adam's willingness to do the unthinkable. But I believe that he wouldn't do something that instantly puts public opinion against him.",

"If it wasn't Adam then I'd believe you, but Adam, in my opinion, is worse than any Grimm, it doesn't matter if your human or Faunus, he'll eliminate you if you get in his way. Just be careful if and when you run it." he asked hoping that she would not be stubborn.

"If you do get into some trouble, head to Beacon or Patch. Plenty of hunters that will be able to knock him about a bit." Eli hoped it would not come to that but with his little idea, he just hoped it would not come to that.

Lisa actually looked at him with surprise at the mention of such protection, "I'll keep that under consideration Eli. I know Adam Taurus is not someone to be taken lightly but do you really think that he would make such a bold move?".

"I do. The man is a monster, honestly, I went through a lot of thought on whether or not to bring you into this, instead of just sending it to the press. I'd rather have someone I know dealing with it rather than some glory hound." Eli explained getting a small smirk from Lisa.

"Well, maybe someday I can get an interview from the first Faunus Professor of Beacon? Be a nice light piece for people to read." she asked getting a nod from Eli.

"Be happy to sort something out for you. And it might even piss Adam off even more, which would make my day even better." Eli chuckled.

* * *

Several days later….

"So due to several sources that wish to remain anonymous, we have been given information in regards to Adam Taurus the leader of the Vale branch of the White Fang, which has been disavowed by the other groups in regards to their terrorist activities." Lisa announced in her news report.

"Among which was the brave report made that stated that Adam Taurus would willingly send Faunus on suicide missions for little to no gain, there were even reports of possible suicide bombings." Lisa waited briefly to let the words sink in before continuing, "This, of course, is a serious situation for Faunus who may be thinking about joining the White Fang. Already a number of Faunus speakers have voiced their concerns about this, and the White Fang itself have been contacted for a statement but they have yet to…".

The television screen was shattered into pieces as Adam growled in annoyance, pulling his sword out of the ruined screen.

Turning to the gathered grunts of the White Fang, he was far from impressed at the personal attack on him.

"Find whoever talked, and silence them." he ordered, "I don't care what you have to do to find them. No one crosses me!" he growled, slamming his fist down onto the table, sending up several splinters.

The report had been playing for the last twenty-four hours and it was his first time seeing it, since he had been out of the city for a few days, trying to rally more support. However, his time away had been completely undone.

Upon arriving back in their Vale headquarters he had found out that dozens of Faunus had left the White Fang upon hearing the news report, while some were clearly still undecided, he could only trust his most faithful followers. And instead of dealing with his own goals he had been forced to reinforce his hold on those that remained.

'Yes, whoever spoke to the press, will pay.' he swore as his large lieutenant entered, resting his chainsaw next to the door. Adam looked at the chainsaw and gave it a grim smile, 'Yes, they will pay.'.


	8. Chapter 8

And back... Apologizing in advance for this somewhat of a light filler chapter.

* * *

Eli sat in Ozpin's office while Glynda went over several notes that he was not really concerned about as it did not affect him.

"Eli? Did you hear me?" Glynda asked, snapping her Faunus colleague out of his thoughts, she was a little annoyed that he did not even have the decency to look embarrassed.

"Sorry Glynda, spaced out there…you said something about the Vytal Festival?" he said getting a small smirk out of Ozpin for the lucky guess.

He watched her eyes narrow at him before continuing. Not going to let on that he had dodged a bullet.

"Yes, as I was saying, as Vale has its turn in hosting the festival I would like to ask why General Ironwood has put in multiple requests to provide security with his combat androids." while she did not hate Ironwood, she had to question why he was so insistent to provide security.

"I know why. Or I can guess. Jimmy wants to show off to the world the new tin men of Atlas." Qrow said walking into the office, "It's like talking to a wall sometimes, you can't simply replace flesh and blood experience with robots.".

"Can't argue with that. But how is he going to control all of them?" Eli asked, "Don't they have to have a control ship or something? There is no way they can hotwire into the CCT to do it.".

"That would be correct Eli. However, that would certainly raise the question of how the people would react if they saw Atlas warships floating over Vale." Ozpin said calmly, though everyone could tell that he was concerned about having such a thing happen.

"Yeah, the last thing we really need during the festival are thousands of people panicking and drawing Grimm in." Eli thought out loud, "If he is going to bring his ships in, is there anyway we can get him to keep them at a safe distance?".

"Like a 'here we are but don't worry we're going to stay over here'?" Qrow asked, pulling out his flask and taking a mouthful, quickly putting it away when he saw Glynda glaring at him.

"More or less, yeah. I mean there is no way that the people are just going to willingly let a military power like Atlas just park their ships right above the city." Eli pulled out his scroll and checked his messages, "Speaking of which…How well do you think we're going to do this time? I mean team CFVY is a really good pick, don't you think?".

"Really I would have thought you'd be backing team RWBY?" Ozpin wondered, "Or don't you want to play favourites?".

"Don't get me wrong Oz, the way RWBY has pulled it together over the last few months has been impressive. If they keep it up, then I might have to change my mind. What do you think about it, Glynda? Do you think they can make a good impression during the festival?" Eli wanted Glynda's personal opinion since she did teach their combat class.

"Well since Weiss's change of views about her team they have certainly come together, they have a number of effective team attacks which I think Ruby has been focusing on team elements for a while." she explained getting a chuckle from Eli.

"She's always been doing that, even did one for me working with her. But the one she came up with required her to interact with my semblance. And as you know no one can touch my semblance safely without knowing about it upfront." Eli explained as Qrow looked at him, clearly confused as to what he meant.

"What are you talking about? What does it do?" Qrow asked.

"Seriously Qrow? I told you this years ago…" Eli said letting out a sigh, "My semblance is what some people have called 'Shadow walking' however there is a downside to it. Something that even I'm not immune from entirely." Eli explained leaning forward in his chair.

"That downside is the terror of what lurks in the shadows, I've always seen it as almost a Grimm-esq like essence. But it only affects the sight, thankfully. When I use it I close my eyes and rely on my sense of smell and hearing, it's actually really easy for me now." Eli could tell that Qrow was remembering but it was still a rather dark thing for him to hear.

"So your semblance shows fears? I'm not sure if I want to know the answer to this but is it unique to the person who touches it?" Glynda asked, only to get a nod from Eli.

"Couple of years ago, I was stupid enough to have a look again…never want to do that again." he sighed heavily as he remembered what he saw, "I lost everything…Summer, Ruby, Luna. My mother, my siblings, Mel…all died by Grimm and I was left broken and alone…that is my biggest fear.".

"Eli…it was only something that was twisted from your deepest fears. Though I have to say that I would pity anyone who came into contact with that without knowing." Ozpin said as he gave Eli a sympathetic look.

"Well…sorry to change the subject but what are we going to do with James?" Glynda asked trying to change the mood in the room to something a little lighter.

"I will bring it up with the council but if they cannot come to a decision then James will have to find another solution. I would like to keep from upsetting the population of Vale as long as humanly possible, having a small army of androids walking around will likely change that." Ozpin said.

There was not much else said during the meeting, but Eli wanted to check in with some of the students at Glynda's next lesson. He wanted to make sure that everyone was getting on well with each other, as it was part of Human and Faunus relations.

* * *

Professor Goodwitch would never say it out loud but the team picks for her combat class were never random, she always mixed and matched to keep students on their toes and to expand on their skills. Different weapon types would go up against each other, such as long-range going up against melee, or two specialists going up against a whole team.

But this one was particularly frustrating for students. Half mixed teams going up against each other.

"Mister Arc and Miss Nikos, you will be paired with Miss Schnee and Miss Xiao-Long. While Miss Rose and Miss Belladonna will be paired with Mister Ren and Miss Valkyrie. Miss Rose and Mister Arc will act as their teams' leader, understood? Spend the few minutes discussing things among yourselves and prepare accordingly." Glynda said keeping her professional tone even though she was secretly going to enjoy it.

Ruby was a little nervous when told she would be leading her makeshift team, she was comfortable now around Weiss and Yang as a leader but with Ren and Nora, now part of her team she did not want to let them all down.

While she was friends with both of them she could not say that she felt right giving them orders. But thankfully they were on board with following her instructions.

"So Ruby what is the plan?" Ren asked checking his two machine pistols one last time, "I know it must be strange, but it is as strange for us as it is for you." he tried to reassure her clearly seeing her nervousness.

"Well I know Jaune would be the easiest for any of us to take out because of our agility or Nora's strength but he is certainly a skilled tactician, so I think keeping control of the others would be a good idea. My sister is the strongest on their team, so I think maybe Nora should take her on." Ruby suggested.

Nora looked like she could explode at the mention of fighting Yang, she had gone up against her a few times for a spar and enjoyed every second of it. To her, Ruby was her new favourite person.

"What about Phyrra? She is highly skilled in arena fighting after all." Blake asked getting a nod of understanding from everyone.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure, she is really tough…and her weapon…" she thought about Phyrra's weapon, a shield, sword, rifle and javelin. She had reach and defence at close and medium ranges, but she had to change between weapon modes while Ruby did not have to after having Crescent Rose go into its scythe form.

"I'll do it, Ren can you keep Jaune occupied while Blake can go after Weiss. But…keep in mind we might have to switch opponents if things start going against us." Ruby said as the rest of the teams entered the arena.

"Hey look Professor Frost came to watch." Nora pointed out waving joyfully at their Faunus teacher while getting a worried look from Ruby.

"Ruby it'll be fine, just focus and do your best." Blake said trying to stop Ruby before she started to panic that her step-father was watching them fight.

"Are the teams ready!?" Glynda called out as both teams nodded and got ready to fight. Glynda waited until she was sat down next to Eli before signalling the start of the match.

Nora wasted no time in unloading a couple of grenades towards Yang, unfurling her hammer and charging before they had even landed. Charging through the smoke the explosions had kicked up she jumped into an overhead swing, leaving Yang with very little time to dodge.

Ren and Jaune quickly came to blows and traded quick and precise blows in-between blocking and dodging. In terms of physical strength, Jaune had an edge over Ren who was focused more on speed and agility while landing his strikes on his targets weak points but he could use his aura to his advantage, something that Jaune was still training with.

Everyone in the stands watched with surprise as Ruby was extremely aggressive, going after Phyrra with amazing speed, using her scythe to try and keep her on the defensive and keeping her pinned away from the others.

Spinning her scythe around in graceful arcs, the shape of her weapon making it difficult for Phyrra to keep track of it. Ruby had remembered a conversation she had with Phyrra a few weeks before that she had only gone up against one other scythe user, so she still had trouble countering them.

* * *

Luna was happy when her mother said they would be visiting dad while he was at Beacon, it was rare but she was always happy to walk around Beacon while they waited for her dad to be available in case he was teaching a class.

She doubted she would be able to see Ruby and Yang because they were always in classes but she would be happy to see the other friends she had made during her visits.

"Luna!" she heard her name being called out and saw a rabbit Faunus waving at her, wasting no time she used her semblance and dashed over to her, leaving a trail of rose petals in her wake.

Unlike almost every other student on the campus, Velvet was someone who knew that Ruby was her sister and had agreed not to tell anyone when she said that Ruby was attending Beacon.

"Hi, Velvet wasn't expecting to see you today. How have you been?" Luna asked cheerfully as she watched Velvet fiddle with her camera.

"I've been fine Luna, just enjoying some free time before my team training session this afternoon. Are you here to see your dad?" Velvet asked getting a quick nod from the younger Faunus.

"Yeah, my mom had to come and speak with him about something. I guess it was important to come to see him in person but we usually come and see him anyway just to surprise him." she explained as they began walking along the path.

"But tell me how have you and your team doing? I heard that your actually the favourites to win the Vytal festival." Luna grinned as she watched Velvet blush and stammer at the remark.

"Well…I mean we're good but…to win? I don't know…" Velvet looked up and stopped walking when she saw someone she knew. It was a second year, the only one besides Cardin and his team-mates who gave her trouble because she was a Faunus.

"Hughes Silva…Luna come on. Let's get out of here…" Velvet said hoping to get away from the thug before he noticed them.

"Oh look at this…two animals off their leashes." he teased once he noticed them, Velvet felt Luna wrap her hand around her own and grip it tightly.

"Hughes just leave us alone. You really don't know what you're doing…" Velvet tried to warn him but he just burst out laughing.

"Yeah right. Your just trying to act all high and mighty, but your not. You're an animal, you and that kid." he said shoving them both. Velvet managed to keep her footing but Luna hit the ground and had not raised her aura and hit the side of a bench, opening a large gash on her arm.

* * *

Eli sat and watched the fight between the mixed teams with interest. Ruby was certainly better at calling out commands on the fly than he was expecting, she had even come up with simple team attack names that both Ren and Nora picked up on instantly.

Ladybug was Ruby and Blake, Sugar Rush was Ruby and Nora and Black Flower was Blake and Ren, which was as surprising to Glynda as it was to Eli at how quick Ruby came up with such effective combinations.

Before he could focus back on the fight he heard his daughter cry out in pain on the quad in front of Beacon.

Of course, he activated his semblance and all but smashed through the window of the training arena. Stopping everyone midway through what they were doing and looked at the wrecked window.

"Oh, dear…it seems someone may have crossed a line…" Glynda said sighing before repairing the window and sending a quick message off to Ozpin.

* * *

Eli rushed through the grounds towards the quad all but hoping that Luna was alright. Dodging out of the way of students who were walking by so as not to touch them and affect them with his semblance.

As he approached the quad he saw Luna being tended to by Velvet Scarletina and made a quick note to praise the girl when he had time.

Reappearing behind Hughes he had the brief appearance of a demon appearing before he clamped his hand firmly down on Hughes's right shoulder, causing him to go rigid.

"You have just made three mistakes…First, you are bullying another student. Second, you caused an injury to someone who isn't a student here. And thirdly…" Eli said at that point turning Hughes around and lifting him up to eye level, "That is my daughter.".

"Professor…I…" he tried to say, no doubt trying to weasel out of any trouble by pleading ignorance.

"Or is it because she's a Faunus? I honestly don't know why Ozpin lets people like you into this school. You're a stain on what it stands for." he growled as Hughes struggled against his grip.

"Eli! That's enough!" Glynda called out as she separated the two with her semblance, "While I understand your anger, you are treading a very fine line.".

"Glynda…Luna isn't a student here, in a courtroom it would be the same as attacking a civilian!" Eli said firmly, knowing full well that places like Signal were advanced schools for possible hunters. But even though it was for hunters, under the law of Vale the students were still classed as civilians until they entered academies such as Beacon where they became hunters in training.

"I am aware of that Eli but you cannot simply attack a student." Glynda explained as she lowered Eli to the ground while keeping Hughes away from him.

"I didn't attack him…yet," Eli growled trying to keep his calm as he stood where he was, not wanting to move towards Hughes or Glynda in case she used her semblance on him, again.

"I'll deal with this Eli, take care of Luna." she said as she led Hughes to Ozpin's office.

"Is she alright Velvet?" Eli asked kneeling down next to them.

"She's fine, her aura has already healed the cut, we were a bit surprised so she didn't have it up." Velvet explained as Luna tried to put on a brave face.

"Is that right Luna?" Eli asked getting a nod from her as she held back tears, he wasn't mad at her or Velvet he was just concerned.

"Shall we go find Summer?" he asked getting another nod as he took her hand and helped her to her feet, "Thank you Velvet. I mean it." Eli said, "I'm glad Luna has you here.".

"It's no problem Professor Frost, anything for a friend." Velvet said ruffling Luna's hair after giving her a quick hug, "Take care of yourself, Luna, I'll see you later." as Velvet gave her hug before ruffling her hair and heading off to meet up with her team.

"Are you mad at me dad?" Luna asked looking up at her father who just shook his head.

"Course not sweetie. You didn't do anything wrong, now come on and let's go find Summer." he said trying to cheer her up.

Eli was dreading the time when Luna would end up at Beacon, he knew she could handle the training and the studying without any problem but what he was concerned about the most was her reactions to the hate against Faunus.

He knew that she still had issues about it, but he hoped that she could push past it when she came to Beacon, but it was still concerning how she reacted as he could not figure out why it happened.

She had bad experiences at school and soon after starting Signal but to his knowledge, it was nothing more than some pushing and harsh words, something that did not seem like a catalyst for freezing up like she did. But it was not the time to dive into the reason, Eli would have to ask Luna about it at a later date.

* * *

"So what is going to happen to him?" Summer asked as she and Eli had a cup of tea together in his room. Luna was catching up with Velvet in the library with the rest of her team, so she would not run into any more problems.

"Well, Ozpin and Glynda are currently dealing with that little turd. Not surprisingly they don't trust me enough to deal with the moron." Eli sighed as he tried to relax, "I might actually have to have sit down with Ozpin on why he lets these people like that into Beacon. In Hughes file, it said clearly that he had a number of incidents involving Faunus students.".

Summer could sense the frustration in Eli's voice, and it was justified in her opinion, he had worked so hard to try and bridge the gap between humans and Faunus in his own way and it was all appearing to be ignored by a growing number of students.

"Eli all you can do is try your best. If people choose to willingly ignore help then it is their choice. You're not meant to carry the whole of Beacon on your shoulders." Summer said, hoping that Eli would understand that he could not be expected to change every student for the better.

"I know…I guess because of this mess with the White Fang I'm just wanting to try and make things better for everyone." he said before sipping his tea, "I certainly don't want Luna to come to Beacon and experience this on a daily basis.".

"I understand Eli, but I don't know if Luna has told you about why she is like she is when berated for being a Faunus." Summer asked.

"No, she hasn't. I don't know why either. Do you know what caused it?" Eli asked getting a sad nod from Summer.

"Yes…she made me promise not to tell you but I don't think I can keep it. Not with what just happened." Summer said, "About a year and a half ago she was bullied rather harshly. Of course, Yang stood by her as did Ruby. But she was cornered in the bathroom and physically abused by the same bullies.".

Summer let out a sigh before continuing, Eli heard her breath hitch as she did, knowing that whatever was about to be said would not be pleasant.

"They said the only reason she was allowed into the school was that her father was a teacher at Beacon. They called her a mongrel and pulled her ears, twisted them! Then…then they humiliated her, saying that they would only let her out if she sat and rolled over for them! They ever threw a collar at her! Like she was a dog!" by this point Summer was seething.

"That is my little girl…and if I see anyone bullying my girls I will drag them into the arena and make sure they see the error of their actions!" Summer spat furious, clearly, everything that had been happening had finally boiled over and Eli had rarely seen her this angry before.

"Summer…don't. Don't let this consume you, please. You're my anchor, I'm meant to be the one to lose it." Eli said resting his forehead against hers, "Let's face it, everything would fall apart if you weren't here.".

"I know silly." she said letting out a sigh, "But you and the girls. You're my anchor, every day we're together Eli it makes me happier that we're married and we have our family.".

When Eli's scroll rang with a message he knew that a decision had been made.

* * *

"So he's staying?" Eli questioned as he stood in front of Ozpin's desk, Hughes standing off to the side in front of Glynda.

"Yes, everyone deserves a chance Eli. But do not confuse this with letting him off the hook unpunished, Mister Hughes will learn that such actions can have dire consequences out in the world." Ozpin explained.

"The points you made earlier about Luna not being a student here and technically classed as a civilian is correct but as I mentioned before he is allowed to have another chance." Ozpin said but Eli merely shrugged, glaring at Hughes.

"And what about his file? Numerous counts of him bullying other students simply because they were Faunus, are they counted towards his second chance? Or his third? Or forth?" Eli growled, "There cannot be an unlimited free pass Ozpin.".

"And there won't be Eli, but let me ask what you would suggest?" he asked wondering what Eli was thinking.

"Well since Hughes thinks so lowly of Faunus I would not dare ask him to fight me…no I've got someone else in mind to teach him a lesson." Eli turned and watched as the lift doors opened and Summer stepped in, "Perfect timing Summer. Would you like to explain to Ozpin what we had in mind?".

Summer took a moment to glare at Hughes, no doubt wanting to slap him into the ground for what he did.

"When I heard about this, I wanted to be the one to teach him a lesson. Luna has been through enough without being abused just because she's visiting her father and her friends, so if this so called hunter wants to show how tough he is, let him." Summer turned to face him directly, her silver eyes boring into him.

"I'll show you why you made the biggest mistake of your life when you bullied my daughter." Summer said.

"Are you sure about this Ozpin? I mean we're basically sending Mister Hughes against someone who could easily beat him with both hands tied behind her back." Glynda asked.

"Well, honestly this is not what I would have picked, but having Summer fight instead of Eli is a blessing in disguise." Ozpin explained knowing that Summer would have much better control over her emotions than Eli would, that and Eli's semblance would be rather risky to use in a fight with a student.

He could only hope that Summer was actually able to control herself, given the situation that led her to do this.

* * *

Ruby and the others were exhausted. Their mixed team fight had ended in a draw, which surprised everyone.

Yang and Nora managed to beat each other, both having a lot of fun in the process, even as they lay slumped against the side of the arena they were laughing. Weiss and Blake merely stared at each other, clearly trying to figure out why they did not beat the other, as Ren and Jaune spoke with Phyrra about how everything went.

Ruby meanwhile was surprised to see her mother walk into the training arena, as Glynda repaired the damage. She had rushed out after Eli had left she had called Professor Peach to cover the lesson.

"I want all students out of the room, now. Head to your next classes." Glynda ordered as she finished repairs to the training arena.

"What's going on Miss Goodwitch? Why is my mom here?" Ruby asked as the others filed out.

"Ruby, please just leave the arena. Go rest up, I'll excuse you and JNPR from your next class because of how much aura you used up." Glynda said hoping to get Ruby to move along before Hughes entered the arena and she discovered the reason why her mother was here.

Her tone was rather strict but she did not want Ruby to see what her mother was about to do, but as long as she got out of the room then she would have to live with being strict with Ruby.

Ruby was surprised by her godmother's tone but decided to do what she said as she did not want to get into trouble.

"Is she going to be around after she's done?" she asked before going to leave.

"Yes, I'll make sure she comes to visit you in your dorm before she heads off, I promise Ruby." Glynda said, more calm and friendlier than earlier.

"Okay, I'll see you later Glynda." Ruby said before dashing out of the room, leaving a trail of rose petals.

"I really wish she wouldn't do that. Cleaning those things up is such a pain…" she said as Hughes arrived in the training arena.

"Miss Goodwitch, do I have to do this?" he asked very unsure what to think.

"Yes, unless you would rather fight Professor Frost? Considering that Luna is their daughter this is you getting off lightly. You must understand that while Luna is in training at Signal she is still a civilian, we cannot stress this enough Mister Hughes, a huntsman attacking a civilian is a serious violation of our law, both in Vale and here at Beacon." Glynda explained.

"The best thing for you to do is to accept your punishment and never even think of doing something like this again. To anyone." Glynda said firmly, "Summer are you ready?" she asked as the silver-eyed huntress nodded.

Summer was not going to use her weapon for the fight as it was already one-sided enough, and mainly she wanted to teach the boy a lesson, not injure him, too much anyway.

"Begin." was all Glynda said before Summer disappeared in a swirl of white rose petals.

Hughes did not see where Summer hit him from but felt the first and second hits right after he had his feet kicked out from under him, she was moving so quickly it felt like he was fighting more than one person.

He very quickly began to regret his choices in life.

The fight had been going on for less than a minute and already Hughes aura was at fifty percent. Glynda noted that Summer was making sure to inflict the most amount of damage she could without taking too much of his aura away. She wanted to make sure that the punishment stuck with him for the rest of his life and was something he could tell his grandchildren.

"Well, Mr Hughes I hope this has opened your eyes a bit. The next time an incident like this happens again, then Professor Frost will be your opponent, and you will likely be blacklisted from every School in Remnant after your expulsion." Glynda explained as Hughes was taken away to the infirmary.

* * *

"Did you hear? The teams for the Vytal Festival will start arriving soon. Everyone is getting really pumped for it." Yang said to her team as they ate lunch.

"We know." Weiss answered having heard the information that morning, along with almost every student that was paying attention.

"Well, Ice Queen I must have missed it, sorry. But I'm just happy to see all the new faces that are going to be pouring in for the Festival." Yang said, smiling widely as she felt her scroll go off.

"Ruby we've got to go. Eli needs a word with us, something about Neo…Hope she's alright." nobody had heard from her in ages.

"Neo? Wasn't that Eli's teaching assistant?" Blake asked.

"That's right. She's super nice and really cool." Ruby answered, really missing Neo and their trips to the ice-cream parlour when she visited Patch.

Heading up to Eli's office they entered and saw him looking upset and angry.

"Dad is everything alright?" Ruby asked, and gasped when he turned his computer screen around. It was Neo, she was on a blacklist for huntresses having committed criminal acts and now wanted by the Vale police.

"B-but why? How?" Ruby asked clearly shocked by what she was seeing.

"I don't know…she was meant to be on an assignment from Ozpin, but according to him she lost contact and went dark. Next time we heard anything was when we saw she had hooked up with Torchwick." Eli let out a growl of frustration as he turned the screen back towards him.

"Girls…this doesn't leave the room. I have to talk some things through with Ozpin." Eli did not want to keep it a secret but until he got to bottom of things he could not risk things getting so out of hand.

"If she tries to contact you, tell me and only me. Do not meet her and if you see her…don't approach her." he warned, really wishing he did not have too.

"But dad…she wouldn't hurt us. Right?" Ruby asked.

"Honestly I don't know at the moment Ruby but I really don't want you taking that risk. Just be careful." he said as the two girls left his office, missing as he slumped back into his chair and wondered what the hell he was going to do.

* * *

Neo was thankful that she had some time alone. All she had been doing lately was finally catching up to her, all she wanted to do was settle down in her small apartment and sleep, relax and watch a bad movie or two, hopefully in that order.

Hearing her scroll chime she looked over and saw a message from Ozpin.

 _Eli knows about your status as a huntress. I would be careful about where you go from now on._

Neo felt very cold all of a sudden, the possibility of fighting Ruby or Yang was one thing but fighting Eli was not something she wanted to experience. She knew she could beat Yang and Ruby without too many problems but she knew that fighting Eli would be like trying to stop a whirlwind.

 _I don't know if I can continue with this Ozpin. If Eli finds me, there is no way I'll be able to beat him. He must think that I betrayed him._

 _That is true. Some of the language he used in my office showed as much. But should the worse happen, and you do encounter him. Run. I don't doubt your skills Neo but I cannot predict how he will act should he see you. I'd rather not have him feel the guilt if he should harm you._

Neo knew that Eli would take up his weapon and attack her. To him, she had betrayed him and everything he had taught her, of course, he had also opened his families home to her. Giving her a place to stay when she needed it the most.

 _Ozpin I really hope your plan works. Otherwise, I've thrown away everything I care about._

She did not get a reply from Ozpin as she curled up on her sofa, suddenly wanting to watch a movie was far from her mind as everything began to pile up on her shoulders.

Anyone walking past her apartment door would have heard the crying.

* * *

Right…I'd rather not say this again but sorry about the delay, several things dropping again into my lap. But the next two chapters I am going to have to rewrite the next two chapters as I have messed up a few things and it is far from a simple fix.

But a personal note I have not really been able to focus on writing over the last two weeks, I've tried but it just hasn't been doing anything. But am going to try and go for short bursts of writing so hopefully I can make more progress in the next two chapters and you all won't have to wait two months for every chapter.

But I am hoping to get a lot of backlogged chapters ready for next year as I will be pre-occupied with the Resident Evil 2 remake and whenever Cyberpunk 2077 comes out.


	9. Chapter 9

Alright, this chapter took a little more work than I would have liked, but between being sick and just trying to figure out what I was doing with this chapter it was a pain.

But things do start picking up more after this chapter, think of this as another filler but it does follow on from previous chapters.

* * *

Ruby had pulled an all-nighter in order to complete the upgrade she had wanted to finish to Crescent Rose, she had been wanting to add a smoother bolt but she had found that the new one she had brought had been off by a few millimetres so she had to rework the whole loading mechanism.

Of course, the recent news that Neo had betrayed them by becoming a criminal had made her focus more on making sure Crescent Rose was in top working order. She knew her dad had said not to approach Neo but if she was with Torchwick then there was a pretty good chance they would be crossing paths again.

But before she could make a final check on everything she decided to just rest her eyes for a moment. Then everything went black.

When Blake had woken up and saw that Ruby had fallen asleep at the workbench in the corner of their dorm, she could not help but smile warmly at their leader. She was tempted to wake her but seeing how it was the weekend she decided against it, Ruby always worked herself to the bone when dealing with her weapons. Of course, it did not help things that she also assisted with the upkeep of the team's weapons when things got a little to complex for them to do it themselves.

She gently lifted Ruby off her chair and carried her over to her bed, knowing that lifting her up to her bunk would likely wake her up, she lay Ruby down on her bed and pulled the covers over before heading out to get breakfast as the others had yet to wake up.

"It's amazing how you have so much energy Ruby, but please pace yourself a little better. Don't want our leader falling asleep on the job." Blake said before closing the door, and heading to the cafeteria.

As she walked through the corridors she thought over her partnership with Ruby, while she had no problems with it she had partners before that did not end well. She knew that Ruby would not be like that but part of her did not want to hurt her in any way.

But, that was not the problem she was having at the moment with her leader. She would not be able to tell anyone about it as there was really no one she could safely tell without it getting back to Ruby somehow.

She had been getting much closer to Ruby of late and it was honestly getting to the point of being ridiculous how she acted whenever Ruby would snuggle up to her whenever they read a book together. How she would stumble for words whenever she smiled at her or how she would somehow get fed by Ruby when she was studying and not eating much.

She did not want to upset Ruby but she did want her to stop but part of her could not help but wanting to be closer to Ruby. She was conflicted as every time she thought about having to spend time away from Ruby, her heart ached.

"I can't…surely we're just friends. Right?" she asked herself as she walked along the hallways of Beacon. Her mind drifted to her books and all the signs that she was thinking of, it all began to fall into place in her mind and she paused mid step.

"I have a crush on Ruby?" she said aloud just in time to come face to face with Velvet who looked just as surprised as she did.

"Well…that sure is interesting Blake…" the rabbit Faunus said, a grin slowly forming on her face as Blake very quickly came to the realisation that she should not have spoken out loud.

* * *

When Ruby woke up she quickly realised that she was not in her own bed but in Blake's instead.

The first thing she noticed though was how it was warm and inviting it was, that and the smell of lavender was gently drifting through the air, not overpowering but rather pleasant.

'Wow, this smells really nice. And it feels like Blake has me all wrapped up in her arms…' she thought joyfully as she wrapped herself up in the sheets, unaware that Yang was watching from the other side of the room.

'Alright…I've seen both of them act like this around each other too much. They are so crushing on each other right now, I'm sure of it.' Yang thought, wondering if she would have to speak to Eli about Blake's new focus of attention.

But she would certainly be milking as much teasing as possible out of the situation given the chance.

'I'll give her a little space before I ease into things.' she thought, 'I want to make this last.' chuckling she rolled over and decided to get a few extra winks before waking up.

* * *

Blake could not help but glare at Velvet as she sat across from her in a quiet section of the library. She was now hungry, embarrassed and confused as to what Velvet wanted out of her in order to keep her silence on her thinking aloud.

"Blake you can stop glaring at me like that. I'm not going to tell anyone what you just said. You obviously don't want anyone to know but I just thought I'd let you know something about Ruby." Velvet explained.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked, she had been getting very close to Ruby as of late and she had opened herself up a lot and alright knew a lot about her.

"Well it's not about Ruby per say but I would be very careful because Professor Frost is very protective…" she said but Blake interrupted her.

"He is her father, we know. All of the team knows, so you don't have to worry about that. He's already said he'd chase me all over Remnant if I hurt her." Blake said, really wishing she never would have to find out if Eli's statement was true or not.

"Oh…how did you find out?" Velvet asked, wondering how she knew such a closely guarded secret.

"Believe it or not it was my mother. Turns out Eli and my father tried to one-up each other with family photos…and one thing led to another. And Ruby was surprisingly relieved when I told her." Blake said, asking how Velvet knew.

"Eli and Professor Port are close to my team. We talk a lot and when I was feeling down one day, Eli said he'd cheer me up right away. He showed me a picture of his family from when Ruby and Luna were younger. They both looked so adorable I couldn't help but smile." Velvet explained.

"Eli is different from all the other teachers here. You can talk to him as either a teacher or a friend and it won't feel strange." Velvet said, sounding happy to be talking about it.

"So…" Velvet started to say wearing the same smile she had when she overheard Blake in the hallway.

"Velvet…you already know about it. Can we not?" Blake asked suddenly looking very uncomfortable.

"Come on Blake I just want to know, I mean if I can be honest I would not have expected Ruby to have made such an impression on you. I mean I'm not against it or anything." Velvet said trying to get some information.

Blake sighed knowing that she was not going to be able to simply drop the conversation and avoid telling Velvet too much.

"When we read together, it's just, I don't know…it feels right. She just makes me feel, well she gives me that warm happy feeling all the time, I just enjoy our time together…it's really hard to say this early Velvet." Blake admitted.

"Okay Blake I won't push anymore, but in my opinion, you two would make an adorable couple. And Coco owes me fifty lein." she chuckled merrily getting to her feet and letting Blake relax a little.

* * *

Eli almost inhaled the coffee he was carrying, he had been pulling an all-nighter to get the lesson plans for the next semester ready. He had been kicking himself for leaving it till the last minute, again.

'I really need to stop leaving it till the last minute to do these things…I've been doing this long enough to know otherwise.' he thought letting out a sigh as he passed the library.

He paused when he heard a familiar yelp and walked inside, deciding to check in on Velvet just in case she had hurt herself. But somehow he doubted it was her being clumsy.

Straight away he saw Velvet rubbing her head as Blake slid a book back onto the shelf while glaring at Velvet.

"Ladies…something wrong?" he asked, already guessing what had happened to Velvet.

"No professor. Just a…difference of opinion." she answered looking at Blake for a moment before chuckling and leaving the library.

"Blake…Alright, seriously?" Eli said looking at the now empty room as Blake had used her semblance to disappear before he could press for an answer.

* * *

Ruby had been waiting for Blake to return to the dorm, they had their weekly read coming up where they would both read the same book on Blake's bed as they listened to music from their scrolls.

She was really looking forward to it as it was the final few chapters in the book they were reading. It was about a strong yet sometimes overwhelmed wizard who protected the people of the city he lived in, even if they did not believe in magic.

"Come on Blake, where are you?" she was starting to get ready since it was the weekend they had a good about of free time to finish the book entirely and they had agreed to nine o clock start.

Sliding out of bed she opened the door only to come face to face with Blake who had been about to open the door.

"Blake, what happened? You were meant to be back half an hour ago, I was getting worried." Ruby said as Blake entered.

"Sorry, Ruby…I would have sent a message but I've been held up talking to Velvet and I lost track of time. Sorry. Are we ready?" Blake asked getting a happy nod from Ruby who all but bounced over to her bed.

"Are you sure you don't want to go and get something to eat Ruby, you were up late last night after all." Blake said as she changed into her Yukata.

However, she completely zoned out on Ruby's reply as while she was calm on the outside, inside her mind she was going into a full-blown panic.

' _I can't believe I'm doing now! It wasn't that long ago that I had told Velvet about my crush on Ruby and now I'm laying in my bed with her_!' she screamed mentally.

' _Calm down Blake! It's just reading…like we've done like every time before_.' she thought to try to calm herself down before Ruby picked up on her acting strangely.

Ruby's smile though as she patted the space next to her, almost made her crack.

' _I've been reading far too much Ninja's of Love…_ ' she thought before shaking her head, to her there was no such thing as too much of the wonders of romantic literature.

"So are we ready?" Blake asked.

"Yes, the last few chapters of Small Favour. I need to know what happens…" Ruby chirped and she could not argue with her excitement. It was the tenth book in the series that they had first gotten on a whim, now they had powered through the rest of the series in quick succession.

"Oh yes, I must admit the whole action sequences are very well done, they're usually not my sort of thing but these are very enjoyable." she admitted as she climbed in next to Ruby.

"My scroll is on charge at the moment so we don't have any music to listen to. Hope that's alright?" she asked which Blake told her was fine, she did not mind having music in the background.

As Blake climbed in next to Ruby she shivered when their skin touched and Blake had to pull herself together, it did not help her as her imagination began to picture her and Ruby together in place of the characters in Ninjas of Love.

' _What the hell is wrong with me?_ ' she screamed mentally to herself, ' _She is my team leader and my friend and I'm picturing her in that_ …'.

"Blake are you alright? Your drooling." Ruby said, watching in confusion as she quickly wiped her mouth and looked like she was blushing.

"I'm fine, just thinking of something. Nothing to worry about." she quickly covered her mistake and started reading hoping to just put the whole thing out of her mind before she embarrassed herself any further.

"That was so sweet at the end. Where they had dinner together even after everything that happened…" Ruby said as Blake just looked on, having pictured herself and Ruby having a nice peaceful and romantic dinner together.

Blake knew she had to keep herself under control, the last thing she wanted to do was to scare Ruby off, she did not know if she even was interested in the same sex.

' _I might actually need to talk to Yang…_ ' she decided, knowing that she would be the best person to talk to, as Luna was a little young and Eli would likely make sure that every move she made he knew about. And she would not be surprised if he gave her the talk.

' _But then again how do I tell her that I have a crush on Ruby and have her take it seriously_.' lamenting slightly she decided to try and sleep on it, hoping that things inside her mind would settle down.

* * *

Yang was happy to see Ruby and Blake getting along so well but part of her hoped that the two would see that the other liked them and would actually ask each other out. But as she was coming back from her afternoon gym session she noticed Blake standing outside their door looking rather fidgety.

"Hey, Blake everything alright?".

"Um…can we talk. I mean…I need your advice." Blake said looking extremely unsure about what she was talking about.

"Is it important? I sort of need to take a shower…I mean if it can wait a few minutes." Yang said hoping that she could remove the sweat before sitting down to talk, otherwise, it would just feel really strange.

"Yeah, that's fine. It's just something that I need some help with and honestly, I have no idea what to do." Blake admitted.

"Well, Ruby is pretty confusing at times with all her energy." Yang said, just wanting to see Blake's reaction when she mentioned Ruby.

"W-who said it was about Ruby?" Blake asked, stammering slightly.

"Oh please, Blake it's not hard to see how you look at Ruby and how you act around her." Yang said only to have Blake cover her mouth and drag her into the dorm.

"Please do not shout it out for the whole of Beacon to hear. It's bad enough Velvet knows but I really would like to figure this whole thing out, without anyone, especially Ruby finding out." Blake said as she removed her hand, "Seriously Yang, I don't want to end up ruining a friendship because I accidentally do something stupid.".

Yang, however, was not buying it.

"Blake you wouldn't do something like that. And even if you did Ruby isn't the sort to hold a grudge, sure she would be upset but eventually she would go back to normal, just as long as you treat her right then it would be fine." she explained as Blake thought about what she had said.

"But…is there anything I can do for Ruby that might…help me." Blake asked, sounding shyer than she was intending to sound.

"Well, …you could do something for her birthday…that's coming up rather soon. She really does enjoy it since it falls on the same day as Halloween. So you could always take her trick or treating?" Yang said only for Blake to look at her strangely.

"Hey don't look at me like that, she enjoys it alright. And usually, we all go out together as a family, Luna goes nuts for it, honestly think she enjoys it more than Ruby does. And that's saying something." Yang said wondering how she could ever think of keeping up with Ruby and Luna during Halloween, on top of their excitement she had to deal with all the sugar they were consuming.

"Trust me, Blake, it might sound a little childish but I can guarantee that you will have fun, heck even Weiss would enjoy herself." Yang was not sure Weiss would enjoy but she was trying to sell the whole thing to Blake.

"It's still a few months away…is there anything else?" Blake asked hoping that there was something that she could try doing with Ruby without having to wait a few months.

"Well…barring your reading sessions, you could always take her out somewhere just the two of you. She would enjoy it I promise." Yang hoped that Blake would say yes as she really wanted them to stop dancing around each other.

"I guess…but is Ruby interested in girls…like that." Blake asked sitting down on her bed, trying to keep her face from turning completely red.

"It's not really my place to say…but yes she is. But please don't tell her I told you that, she only let it slip to me on accident. She hasn't even told Summer or Luna yet, as for Eli…" Yang explained.

Ruby had almost cried, begging Yang not to tell anyone. She had said she would do anything as long as did not tell anyone. To Yang it was heartbreaking, to see her sister so scared at something so personal.

She had simply told Ruby that she did not have to worry, that she would not tell a soul.

"Please, Blake…don't tell anyone. Don't even let on you know. I've already broken Ruby's trust by telling you, but that's only because you two are such good friends." Yang explained, hoping that she was doing the right thing.

"I won't Yang, I just…I just want to make this work. And even if it doesn't work out, in the end, I'd rather it be without regrets than me wondering 'what if?' for the rest of my life." Blake said hoping Yang understood.

"Well Blakey I'll try my best to help you but I doubt you have anything to worry about. I'm fairly sure Ruby likes you as well, just do me a favour and don't rush into things with her. She hasn't had much experience dating and I don't want her to get in over her head." Yang said going into protective sister mode.

* * *

Eli tried not to fume at being made to wait longer than he would have expected to see Ozpin, he had already been made to wait an hour and time was slowly ticking away till he would just give up and try to see him tomorrow.

He had already let out a long verbal barrage at Ozpin when he had first found out but had left to cool off and had yet to actually go back and discuss things with him, but that was going to change.

Ozpin had been willing to meet him right up until he had said that it was about Neo, suddenly he was rather busy. Instinct was calling out that Ozpin knew something that he was not telling him but he was not sure.

"Sorry for the wait Eli, you can come in now." Glynda said poking her head out of the office.

"No more stalling…" Eli said walking up to Ozpin's desk, "The moment I mentioned Neo you started dodging me. You realise how suspicious that looks, right?".

"Eli please calm yourself. I will answer any questions you have." Ozpin said calmly and without any kind of hesitation, one would expect from someone who was hiding something.

"Alright…what was this assignment you had Neo on? I keep asking and all I get is silence." he said, standing firmly in front of his bosses desk.

"Neo wanted in-depth assessments on tracking movements of Grimm and other people of interest.".

"You mean Salem? You had someone who hasn't had any field experience besides survival training with me and no surveillance training, to spy on people that dangerous?" Eli was not believing what he was hearing, it was either a complete lapse of judgement from Ozpin or he had no problems with discarding Neo.

"I certainly did not send her after Salem. I asked her to look into low levels members that we may have in our sights, the idea was to find a way in for someone else. I did not ask her to put herself into harm's way!" Ozpin said raising his voice.

"Then why!? Why is she now on the Black-list? Why has she turned her back on us Oz? Because something honestly isn't adding up for me because nothing about this whole thing makes sense.".

"Eli…" Glynda started, "You know about her background, she had nothing but the clothes on her back when she arrived here. She said it herself that she almost became a criminal to survive, the temptation was clearly there. Maybe she fell to those temptations?".

Eli had to admit Glynda had a point but it still did not make sense to him, he had worked alongside Neo since she arrived and he did not see her has the sort to simply fall back on any bad habits she may have picked up just because of a little temptation.

"I'm sorry Glynda but I just don't see it. I've known her for a fair few years and I just don't think she would do something like this. Your talking about someone who I trusted with the girls." Eli explained, "I'll ask you this once and only once Ozpin. Has Neo actually gone rogue or is she still working for you? Because if I found out it's the latter…well, I'll let you ponder that for a while." Eli turned and left Ozpin's office slamming the door behind him.

Once the elevator began to descend Glynda turned to Ozpin with a concerned look.

"Ozpin…Is this really wise? Surely it could not hurt to bring Eli in on this? We're risking a lot on what is basically a hunch. We don't really have much information on Amber's attackers, and the off chance that Neo can find something that Qrow can't, isn't it risking a lot?" she explained.

"While Neo's original assignment has changed from what we had originally discussed, finding out Amber's assailants is still something we have to do. I have no doubts they are clearly linked to Salem, the more information we have the better it will be for all parties." Ozpin said calmly, knowing that he was walking on a knife edge when it came to Eli's position on the matter.

But even if it meant losing Eli's trust, he had to do it in order to protect Remnant.

Once Eli had returned he sighed knowing full well that something was likely to blow back on him somehow or another.

Switching on his personal terminal he decided to call Summer to check in and see how things were. However, before he could call he ended up receiving one from a number he did not recognise.

"Hello?" he answered and was surprised to see Lisa Lavender staring back at him.

"Eli, hello. Sorry about calling you out of the blue like this but my boss found out that I was recently in contact with you and has been bugging me non-stop about getting that interview…" she said clearly tired.

"Are you sure you're up for it? You look like you've been awake three days straight." he asked as she just waved him off.

"Oh please, this is me on a good day. Cup of coffee and a quick shower and I'll be looking fine." she promised, "Would it be possible to do the interview at Beacon? Be a good set piece.".

"Is this a video interview?" Eli asked curious if he was going to be on camera or not.

"Yes but it's the interview is more important, whether or not its broadcast is down to my boss. But either way, your story will be out for everyone to see." Lisa said and Eli suddenly felt a little tense, something not easily done.

"Right…well I guess I did agree to this didn't I?" he said knowing that it would have been a little harsh to simply deny doing it after saying that he would have been happy to do the interview in the first place.

* * *

"Relax Eli, it's fine to be a little nervous, happens to everyone." Lisa said as she sat opposite him in his office.

"I've gone against a Deathstalker by myself, I'm not nervous…" he said as Lisa just tried to hide a smirk, clearly not believing him.

"Alright…I'll be making a start now…" she said switching on the recording device and the camera.

"Today I am speaking with Eli Frost, the first Faunus professor at Beacon. Hello Eli." she said taking a professional but casual tone.

"Hello there."

"A lot of people know of you Eli, being the first Faunus professor at Beacon is a major breakthrough for equal rights. Wouldn't you agree?" she asked.

"I would yes, even I was surprised at first when I was approached for the position and honestly almost didn't take it." he explained to Lisa's surprise.

"Why not? I would have thought such a position for anyone would have been highly sought after.".

"Because I had just started a family, getting my life back on track. I just didn't want to give it all up I guess, but thankfully I started off on a part-time basis so I made sure to give Ozpin my thanks for understanding." he said smiling as Lisa started making notes.

"What about your family? How did you and your wife meet?" Lisa asked, sounding a little too eager.

"Actually we met here, at Beacon. Both of us were team leaders and we just kept…bumping into each other." Eli said remembering all the times Summer just ran him over while she was in a hurry, "After a while, I just asked her out on a date and things just went from there.".

"So two Faunus team leaders finding love at Beacon…" Lisa asked only to get stopped.

"My wife is actually human, Lisa. And I almost lost her because of certain…events." he explained getting Lisa's attention once again.

"So…well that is certainly interesting, I must say such an open marriage between human's and Faunus is rarely seen in the public eye.".

"While it isn't illegal for a human to marry a Faunus most people just weren't interested, so we did a small ceremony on Patch." he explained, smiling as he remembered his wedding day.

"Can we go back to the events you told us about? What events exactly?" she asked, carefully and clearly showing that she was not going to force the issue if he said no.

"Well as I mentioned I was the leader of my team, Team Enigma. We graduated and started going on missions as a team, hoping to do as much as possible to help. But during what we thought was a simple mission everything went wrong…" Eli said taking a moment to compose himself before continuing.

"It was just endless waves of Grimm, every one we cut down another two appeared in its place. They just wore us down, fighting for what felt hours we started slowing down, making mistakes, I tried to get everyone to run but it didn't matter what we did." taking a breath he took another moment before carrying on.

"I watched my friends die around me, and for whatever reason I was left alive…spent months learning how to walk again, jumped at shadows, scared to pick up my own weapon or even use my semblance. And I did it all alone because…well PTSD and survivors guilt made it difficult to reach out for help." he said finishing the worst part of his life.

"Oh…my, that is quite a story. I mean thank you for sharing, that must have been quite difficult for you to tell." Lisa said thankful that Eli was open to telling her his past.

"It was but I've told it enough times over the years so I have no worries with telling it, doesn't make it less painful though.".

"I wouldn't expect it to be. But was there someone who managed to get through your walls?" she asked, "Your wife?".

"Well yes now that you mention it. But at the time she was my ex, we had temporarily separated after I left Beacon so she could focus on her studies something we had both agreed on. But I had shut myself off from the world and she just appeared on my doorstep one night, taking a chance that I still lived there…" Eli closed his eyes for a moment and pictured the night, seeing Summer with a shy and caring smile while holding Ruby in her arms.

"She had personal reasons to ask to stay, and I let her. And I'm not saying what they were because it's not my place. But as days turned to weeks I realised that I was still keeping her at arm's length and she really tried to get me back out hunting Grimm. And while it had its ups and downs it worked." Eli said.

"She even got me to see another doctor and therapist, actually helped me rather than pushing drugs to solve the problem, and while I do still have nightmares from time to time its nowhere in the amount as I used to have." he explained knowing that over the years all the pain and nightmares he felt from all those years ago were a shadow of what they once were.

"Well, Eli that is certainly something that will get a lot of people thinking. Not much is told about the after effects of a huntsman's darkest moments but this certainly does highlight that not everyone is alone. Are they?" Lisa questioned with a small smile.

"No. I should have seen it sooner but as I said I was unaware that she was trying to help, thankfully I met an old friend of mine who was on the same team as my wife. And needless to say, he was a very straightforward speaking person, and the only one who fought me to a draw in the arena." Eli had fond memories of that fight, over an hour of fighting and both their auras had been almost gone. Both of them had ended up slumped on their weapons, completely exhausted.

"So what is it like being a teacher at Beacon Eli? Is it a rewarding experience? Or not as cracked up as it sounds?" Lisa asked changing the subject to a more lighter topic.

"At first…it was an uphill struggle. Not a whole lot of people wanted to listen to a Faunus who knows more about survival than a whole class put together." he said, "And I told them all the same thing, 'If you can last a week out in the wilderness by yourself right now, then you can skip my class'.".

"And let me guess no one has yet to leave like that?" Lisa asked getting the picture.

"Not a single person. Usually, when they see what is waiting out there for them they quickly change their tone, tend to keep the whole racist views on Faunus but as long as they pay attention…" he left the statement hanging as Lisa wrote down more notes.

"Speaking of which how have you dealt with racist comments, actions and attitudes towards yourself?" she asked.

"I tend to ignore most of it. If I react then they only do it more, simple as that. My daughter though…she's taken a lot more abuse than she should, but she keeps moving forward. I'm proud of her, I'm proud of both my girls."

"Has there been any moments that stand out above everything else?" Lisa asked hoping for a few more details.

"Well, there was one that stands out. Shortly after I was released from the hospital after recovering from my injuries when I lost my team I was jumped by a couple of thugs." sighing Eli continued, "They got the jump on me and beat me senseless, saying stuff like why should a Faunus have survived on a team of humans. They failed to acknowledge that my partner Maggie was a Rabbit Faunus, I don't know what angered me more, the fact they ignored Maggie's existence completely or the fact they were beating me to a pulp.".

"You didn't fight back?" Lisa asked, sounding a bit surprised at the idea.

"No. I'm a hunter, they were civilians. The moment I hit them I'm the one that gets into trouble more than them. Hell, I'd likely end up killing them if I used my aura…But at the time, I just didn't care anymore, part of me wanted them to finish it." he explained.

"Do you mean…You wanted to die?" she asked, not believing what Eli had said.

"Look at it from my view at the time Lisa, I had lost my friends, my second family in the space of an afternoon and I was the only survivor. At the time I just did not care and would have liked nothing more than to join them." Eli explained calmly, "But as you can see I'm still here and I'm not going anywhere.".

Lisa took a moment to go back over her notes, seeing that she had a lot of interesting facts to put together into a story, she decided to bring the interview to a close with some lighter notes.

"So between all of the work you have here at Beacon, what do you enjoy doing in your free time?" Lisa asked seeing the smirk that came from Eli.

"Well I do play the violin, it was part of recovery and I just kept with it. Have to say I've gotten pretty good. I like going camping with my daughters as well, sometimes though just cuddling up with my wonderful wife is the best thing to do." Eli explained getting a small smile from Lisa.

"You sound like you are a family man through and through. You must be very proud.".

"I am. My family will always come first as I mentioned. But sometimes…some people just let you down…" Eli said thinking back to seeing Neo's picture on the line up of black-listed hunters.

"Are you referring to Miss Neapolitan? That must have been extremely unsettling for you." Lisa said hoping that Eli did not react badly.

"It was…she…gods, I thought she was on the right path. She graduated valedictorian of her year, she helped me teach my survival classes, she even saved my life. I let her into my family and she just…runs off to be a criminal. It still doesn't make sense to me though…" Eli said, feeling that he had a lot of pent up frustration about Neo's change of heart.

"And what would you do if you encounter her?" Lisa asked.

"Bring her in. She has broken the law, put peoples lives at risk. I'm not going to just let that slide…And if she doesn't come quietly, well, I'd rather not think about that. But what I will do is give her the chance to hand herself in." while he was angry about Neo, he did not want to hurt her, but if she resisted or put more people in danger then he would do whatever it took.".

* * *

Alright this is the only chapter for this month, I may try and squeeze another smaller chapter for later but I can't promise anything but there will be another chapter coming in December. But I do have a fair few fics that I'm trying to finish to push out a nice cluster of fanfics over December to make up for the lack of updates of the last few months.


	10. Chapter 10

Next Chapter, hoping to get something else uploaded in the next day or two but if I don't then it will come sometime in the next week or so. Trying to get back on top of these.

* * *

Ruby was overjoyed when Blake came up to her and asked if she would like to go into Vale for lunch. She had always enjoyed their time together but she did notice that Blake did look very nervous but she had waved it off like it was nothing.

"So where are we going Blake?" Ruby asked as they left the transport station.

"Well I thought first we would go to a café and get some lunch and then we can have around at some bookstores and maybe go look at some weapon shops." Blake said trying to hold back a blush.

While she was only going to the weapon shops for Ruby's enjoyment she actually did need to look at getting some replacement parts for Gambol Shroud, her machine pistol's slide was starting to wear down so she was hoping to find something that was a little more dependable.

"Oh? Is there something you need to get for Gambol Shroud Blake? You know if you ever want me to have a look all you have to do is ask." Ruby said, having extended her offer to her whole team.

"It's fine Ruby, the recoil is starting to feel off and the slide is wearing down so I'd rather just get an upgrade rather than trying to repair worn down parts." Blake checked her scroll one last time, making sure Yang knew she did not want any interruptions.

"Oh well, I'll help you pick out the best part for value because you know some of the better parts aren't always expensive." Ruby did not want to sound like a know it all but weapons were her expertise, besides cookies.

"That's why I'm hoping for your advice Ruby. Let's face it you have the most knowledge on the team when it comes to weapons. But we'd rather deal with our own weapons then have you work all night just to do maintenance on them." Blake explained as she watched Ruby make a face.

"I've only done that twice since entering Beacon…and on that I just want to say thanks for last time Blake. I guess it was you that put me to sleep in your bed right?" Ruby asked suddenly sounding very shy.

"Well yes it was, but I couldn't just leave you sleeping at the workstation. It looked really uncomfortable." Blake said smiling as she remembered seeing Ruby sleeping.

"But thanks though Blake your bed though is really comfy." Ruby said innocently but it simply made Blake's mind go into overdrive, forcing her to once again hold back the blush.

'Why do I have to keep thinking of stuff like that?' she thought.

'Because you're a massive pervert who has fallen hard for her best friend and team leader…who just happens to be absolutely adorable.' her inner self answered for her, sounding more than a little smug.

'You are not making this any easier…' she thought as she snapped back to reality and saw Ruby looking at her as if to ask if she was alright.

"Sorry I drifted off there. Let's head to the Café." Blake apologized as they headed to the café she had found for them.

* * *

Eli sighed heavily as he sat in his office, while the interview he had done with Lisa was a little weight off his shoulders he was still fuming from his meeting with Ozpin, he knew that the man was hiding something else from him but he had no idea how to prove it.

"Helloooo…" a woman called out poking her head into his office, "Wow you look glum, someone refuse to throw a tennis ball or something?".

"Peach…that was one time and I had already had a few. What are you doing here aren't you meant to be taking stock before classes up again?" Eli asked looking at their resident mad scientist Professor Peach, who honestly he hadn't seen for a few days, whether that was a good thing or not.

"Well yes, but I thought I would pop in and say hi, looking happy aren't you?" Peach asked sitting down across from him. Still wearing her short lab coat and slim-fitting black pants, it was an odd contrast to her curly pink hair and lightly tanned skin.

"Sorry. Just had a lot on my mind." Eli apologized rubbing his temples.

"About Neo isn't it? I'm glad your not the only one thinking about it. The girl was a smart little cookie, very talented with Dust. Something fishy about this if you ask me, she had everything going for her and suddenly becomes a criminal, I don't buy it." Peach explained.

"At least someone else can see it. Glynda said that she may have given in to the temptation of being a criminal back from when she was living on the streets, I still think there is something else going on that he isn't telling us." Eli sighed still frustrated by the whole thing.

"Well sadly if Ozpin is keeping something secret I doubt we'd ever find out unless he actually tells us." Peach explained, "But I can always try and find what I can. Because someone has to put her on the Blacklist if that person was Ozpin then…".

"Something is going on and he wants to keep me at arm's length. I'll speak to Qrow when I get a chance, he pretty much Oz's right hand though I doubt I'll get anything from him even if he knows something." Eli said knowing that things were going to get a lot more difficult in the coming weeks.

He was about to say something when he picked the familiar sounds of Glynda's heels growing closer to his office and he signalled to Peach that someone was coming.

"Hey Glynda." Peach greeted as she walked in after knocking but Eli stayed silent, he was still a little annoyed at her over what she had said in Ozpin's office.

"Eli, I'm glad I caught you. I just wanted to apologize if what I said in Ozpin's office was out of line. But you have to understand that it does seem to be the case." Glynda said hoping that it would put Eli at ease.

"Sure, whatever Glyn. Still isn't going to change my mind though." Eli said as he leant back in his chair, "Something doesn't make sense and I'm going to get to the bottom of it.".

Glynda to his surprise put on a world class poker face, "We're not hiding anything Eli, but please just don't do anything rash.".

"And I won't but Ozpin already knows that hiding stuff from me is a bad idea, so for his sake, he had better not be." Eli had in honesty nearly tossed Ozpin out of his office window when he had told him about Summer being a Silver-Eyed warrior

"Hey Eli how about we head into Vale and catch up a little, haven't seen you in a while anyway." Peach said grabbing Eli and dragging him out of the door before the tension got any thicker.

* * *

"Seriously did you have to start something?" Peach asked as she sipped her whiskey, they had found a nice quiet place which was surprising that was open during the early afternoon.

"Hey, not my fault they're being all secret." Eli shot back, "I've been nothing but upfront with them, they could at least do the same." he downed the rest of the beer he had ordered.

"And honestly how can you drink whiskey? It's not even that far into the afternoon yet." Eli asked as Peach just shrugged and said she had an iron liver.

"How are things going though? I don't really think I've seen you that much since Neo appeared on the list." Peach asked.

"As good as can be I guess given the circumstances. Summer is still a super mom to the girls and the best wife in the world. Ruby is doing well in Beacon as you know, Luna…had a little run in while visiting but I think she'll bounce back." Eli explained.

"Yes, I heard about that. And honestly even if you hate the Faunus like that, young so-called man did, how can anyone hate Luna. She's adorable." Peach chuckled, remembering the first time she had seen the young Faunus and poked her gently in the cheek, getting a slew of giggles from the girl.

"Yes she is and I'm your stereotypical proud father. But hey at least I didn't take thousands of pictures of her and pester you all with them." Eli said finishing off the rest of his beer.

"Of course, I think if you started doing that I would call Summer and have her drag you all the way to Patch by your ears." Peach sighed remembering that Eli had kept teasing them that he would have done it whenever someone was getting under his skin.

"Who knows I might like it…" Eli said as Peach playfully shoved him on his bar stool.

* * *

Ruby had to admit that the café Blake had chosen was really nice, she was not expecting such a nice place. But while it was a rather small café it was really welcoming.

Blake had ordered a jasmine tea while Ruby had ordered a hot chocolate with a hint of vanilla. She did not exactly know too much about tea or coffee to order something and she did not want to cause a fuss. But Blake had promised to go over some basic things about tea if she wanted, explaining that some were really good at helping people relax and help them sleep.

"This is really nice Blake I'm glad we're here." Ruby said smiling at her partner, "We really have to come here again.".

Blake was secretly glad that she had said that since she had been wanting to come back again with Ruby at a later date.

"Sure, that would be great. I'm glad you like it." Blake said, "I'm glad you agreed to come. We haven't really had much time together as partners have we outside of Beacon.".

Ruby was about to say something when her attention was caught by someone familiar walking past the café.

"Neo…?" getting up she headed out the door only to find no one there.

"Ruby? Was that her?" Blake asked standing behind Ruby.

"I…I don't know. I thought it was…" Ruby kept looking down the street in the direction that she thought she had seen her go.

"Ruby, I think you should call your father. He did warn you to be careful if she approaches you, even if it wasn't her, better to be safe than sorry." Blake explained, while Ruby wanted to talk with Neo she could understand what Blake meant.

* * *

Eli made a mental note not to drink with Peach ever again, while he was far from drunk he was at that stage where he was already getting a lead weight for a head and knowing that he was going to one mighty headache if he kept going.

Stepping out of the bar he had left Peach to finish up as she had excused herself to the little mad-scientists room, he was not expecting a call from Ruby.

"Hey Ruby what's up?" he answered trying not to sound like he had been drinking in the middle of the day.

"Dad, I think I saw Neo. Blake and I are at the café on Emerald Street and I thought I saw her walk past but when I went out to check I couldn't see anything." Ruby explained as Eli looked down the street, Emerald Street was not that far away.

"Alright Ruby, be careful if you two are going to be walking around Vale. Don't approach her, I'm not one hundred percent sure of anything at the moment but I don't want you girls becoming a target if I'm wrong." he said snapping back into focus on the task at hand.

Eli did not need to say anything else as he began to head towards the end of the street, he could smell her. He ended the call with Ruby telling her to be careful as he sent a quick message to Peach saying that he would meet up with her at the transport terminal back to Beacon.

* * *

Neo let out a sigh of relief as she leant up against the wall of the alley, she had been about to stop for a quick coffee but nearly had a heart attack when she saw Ruby sitting there with her partner.

'I can't be so careless anymore. I have to stay away from Ruby, otherwise, things are going to get more difficult.' she thought as she failed to notice the mist approaching from the other end of the alley.

'I've got to get back before anything else…happens.' she thought suddenly feeling very cold as she felt a presence behind her.

Her heart sank as she saw Eli glaring at her. She could have used her semblance to escape but she was too terrified to even attempt it.

"You really, really messed up Neo." he said firmly, but even though he did not have his weapon on him he was still a force to be reckoned with, she did not want to fight him even if he did not have his weapon.

She quickly shook her head and dropped her parasol waving her hands in around to show that did not want to fight.

"You really think you're leaving this alley that easily? Your on a blacklist Neo and you go near my family? That's something I will not forgive." he growled, "You're going to answer for actions or I will drag you to the VPD and you can rot in a jail cell for the rest of your damn life.".

Everything stopped for Neo as the man she saw as a father figure was ready to toss her in a jail cell. She did not things to go this far but it was to keep people safe, people she cared about. She could not stand it anymore and it all finally caught up with her.

She slumped to her knees and could not stop crying in silence, she beat the ground in frustration as she just let it all out.

"Don't cry that you got caught." Eli said not knowing if it was all an act to get him to lower his guard or something. But he was curious when she pulled out her scroll and started typing.

'Ozpin told me to keep it secret. I'm undercover, looking into someone pulling some big strings in Vale. You weren't meant to know, your reaction was to help keep my cover if we ever crossed paths. Something I've been trying to avoid.' she wrote.

"Got any proof for this?" Eli asked, "You're good at misleading people.".

Neo winced at the verbal jab but opened up the last voice message left for her on her scroll from a private number and played it.

"Neo can you check on my bird. I'll be out of town for a few days." Neo watched as Eli's face turned to one of pure rage and for a moment she was scared that he would direct that rage at her but watched as he all but stomped an empty trashcan into a dented mess.

"That coffee swilling bastard! He had the nerve to lie to my face, again!" he seethed, taking several deep breaths to try and calm himself before turning back to Neo.

The last thing she expected was to be pulled into a hug.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said that but I had to be sure." for a moment Neo was going to reply but she just wrapped her arms around Eli and cried with joy.

'You don't hate me?' she typed on her scroll, her hands shaking as she looked up at him.

"I was angry at first Neo, but something didn't sit right with this whole thing. Glynda and Ozpin said you gave into temptation and became a criminal." Neo shook her head at the remark.

'I told them that you wouldn't believe that. Guess they thought otherwise. But I'm guessing they have a lot of explaining to do?' she asked as Eli gave her a nod.

"Makes you feel better I'll likely end up punching Ozpin in the face." Eli said sounding a little too eager about the whole thing.

'Make sure you talk to Qrow too, he's one of my contacts.' she typed deciding that Eli deserved to know everything.

"Even better…" this was something that Eli was certainly going to enjoy, he wanted to make sure that Qrow had not lost his edge in the arena. That and he certainly wanted to make sure the birdbrain knew not to keep secrets from him again.

'So…what now?' Neo asked unsure what Eli was going to actually do.

Eli merely stepped to the side, allowing her to leave through the other end of the alley.

"Nothing. I didn't see you, but I'll say this Neo. Please stay clear of the girls. I'd rather not drag them into this." he knew that sooner or later something was going to happen, as Ruby and Yang were not the sort to just leave things alone.

'I'll try my hardest but Torchwick does sort of have his sights on Ruby for payback during that heist. I've tried to keep his mind off it but if they're paths cross I might not have a choice.' she typed, wishing that she had really been allowed to bring her Ultravoice.

"Alright, well I guess all I can say is try to avoid hurting them. I know how you fight, while I doubt you wouldn't hurt them but I'd rather avoid seeing Ruby in an infirmary." he explained as he ruffled her hair before she gave him one last hug before heading off, giving him a wave before she disappeared out the other side of the ally.

"Oh, Ozpin…I really hope you can fly because I will launch you out of your office window." he said aloud as he headed back to the transport terminal to meet up with Peach.

* * *

Ruby answered her scroll very quickly when she saw it was Eli calling her, she had been worried about if it had actually been Neo she had seen.

"Dad! Are you alright? Was it Neo?" Ruby shot off in rapid succession.

"I'm fine Ruby, and no it wasn't Neo. I did ask her and it was just a young woman with pink hair." Eli explained, "So nothing to worry about.".

"Oh good, I was worried that you had found her and gotten into a fight…" she stopped taking a breath to calm herself, "Sorry. Just happy that nothing bad happened dad.".

"Me too kiddo. You and Blake enjoy yourselves." he teased.

"H-how did you know?" Ruby sputtered.

"You told me earlier." he laughed before saying goodbye, telling her to give Luna a call when she had time.

* * *

Ozpin was surprisingly concerned when Eli and Peach walked into his office, Eli wearing a grin that was more devious than usual.

"Eli, Peach. To what do I owe the visit?" he asked as Eli reached over his desk and pressed the button for the door locks.

"Well let me say first that I will be paying Qrow a visit after this. So don't think you're getting away unscathed." Eli said walking around Ozpin's desk and grabbing either side of his chair, turning him to face a now angry looking face of the Faunus professor.

"How long are you going to play chess with peoples lives Oz? I ran into Neo earlier and we had a very, very interesting conversation." Eli said firmly.

"Eli…I can explain…" Ozpin tried to say but was lifted to his feet by Eli.

"I seriously doubt that. I told you never to lie to me again Oz. Not after what happened with Summer. And now you put me into a spot where I nearly attacked my friend and best student. What the hell is going on through that head of yours!?" Eli said barely keeping his voice from full-on yelling.

"Eli. I have made many mistakes, sending Neo undercover was not one of them. She can handle it." Ozpin said not sounding remorseful in the slightest, which did nothing to calm Eli.

"Really? Because she broke down in tears when I confronted her. She needs support on this Oz, she's in this by herself with no back up if things go sideways." Eli tried to be reasonable but he was starting to think it was not the best course of action.

"Eli you have to trust me. Neo can do this, or don't you have faith in her?" Ozpin was making it really hard not to hit him.

"It's not a question of faith Ozpin, she's alone. If she gets found out then she could be killed before she has a chance to escape, if that happens then you are going to answer for it. We already know that Torchwick is working with another group, someone planning something big if the amount of Dust is anything to go by." he explained keeping his temper in check.

"Which is why she needs to continue. We need more information on this group and what they are planning." Ozpin argued, "Bare in mind Eli we are hosting the Vytal festival so security and the safety of everyone attending is paramount.".

"Ozpin I have to agree with Eli. Neo needs support that she can count on if things go wrong." Peach said speaking up, "You can't keep this up Ozpin, people are going to get hurt, or worse.".

Ozpin only shook his head and said that Neo would continue her assignment. He did not see Eli grab him by the scruff of his coat and lifted him off the ground, his face furious.

"Don't you care about her!? You put her up to this Ozpin she is your responsibility!" Eli roared.

"Don't let your personal feelings cloud your judgement Eli!" Ozpin barked, forcing himself out of Eli's grip by pushing him away with his cane, "I am fully aware of your relationship with Neo, I am old but not blind. She sees you as her father, you are someone who she wants to be proud of her. And whether you admit it to yourself or not you act like a father to her.".

"You might be right there. Won't deny it Oz but you have to look at this yourself, you are treading on some damn thin ice with this. Have you ever thought about what would happen if the public caught wind of this?" Eli barked back, "Have you considered that?".

"I have…but it won't come to that." Ozpin said, "Now…if you don't mind I still have work to do.".

"This isn't over Ozpin…" Eli said only for Ozpin to slam his cane against the desk. The echo reverberating through the office.

"Yes, it is Eli! The plan is not changing, Neo will continue gathering information for us, when it is time then we will pull her out but until then you are to stay away from her." Ozpin waved them away both Eli and Peach left without a word.

* * *

"I was so close to punching him Peach…have you ever seen him be that angry?" Eli asked as they headed down the tower.

"No…but you were pushing quite hard." Peach admitted.

"Trust me I wasn't. That was just me being pissed off with all the lies and secrets. He promised that he wouldn't lie to me anymore and that's what he's been doing all this time. I was so close to attacking Neo…I was just so angry." Eli said, sounding like he was ashamed of himself, which Peach caught onto.

"Eli don't be like that. Yes, you sometimes have a short fuse but you always think before you act even if it's a split second to decide." Peach said, "Honestly Summer is really lucky to have gotten a man like you. I'm quite jealous.".

Eli did not know what to say to that, he was quite surprised by it.

"Your silence is more than enough Eli, your silent words echo through my heart…" Peach said before bursting out a fit of giggles upon seeing Eli's deadpan expression.

"Sorry…I couldn't keep it together there.".

"Yeah…I've heard that line from when Raven reads her smut out loud." Eli said with a sigh, glad that Peach was trying to get his mind off what had happened in the tower.

"It's not smut. It's romantic literature." Peach said trying to defend it but Eli just sighed shaking his head, "It's smut. I'm just glad Summer doesn't read that stuff.".

"Oh, what's wrong worried she might not want to do roleplay anymore?" Peach teased making Eli glare at her, noting that he was going to kill either Raven or Qrow in the near future.

"Which of the bird brains told you?" Eli seethed.

"Raven, she popped in a while ago to check up on everyone. We got talking and she dropped it. Why was it meant to be a secret?" Peach asked stating the obvious.

"Of course it was Peach who would go around telling people that?" Eli just watched as she shrugged.

"Just because you have some weird ideas for the bedroom doesn't mean everyone thinks you're a weirdo." Peach trailed off when Eli said nothing to defend himself, "Wait…it was Summer's idea?".

As the doors opened to the lobby of the tower all people heard was Peach's laughter echoing through the room.

* * *

Ruby and Blake returned to an empty dorm and for a moment Blake was tempted to ask Ruby if she wanted to go on another 'date' later but was stopped when Ruby spun to face her with a bit of a sad smile.

"Sorry about today Blake…I kinda feel like I ruined it when I panicked when seeing Neo." Ruby said looking down at her hands crossed in front of her, Blake shook her head quickly hoping to cheer her up a little.

"Ruby it was fine, I had fun. We both had fun, right?" she asked getting a nod from Ruby, "Then there is no problem." Blake said with a smile.

"Your right Blake, we have to do it again sometime." Ruby said now back to her usual cheerful self.

"Yes, how about another date next weekend." Blake said as she failed to notice what she had said until after the words left her mouth.

Whatever rational thought Blake had left went straight out of the window when she felt the blush and saw Ruby's own before she created a Shadow-clone and disappeared.

Yang came back nearly an hour later to see Ruby sitting on the edge of the bed looking like she was about to cry.

"Ruby? What's wrong? Is everything alright?" Yang asked switching to big sister mode.

"Blake said something and she left before I could say anything…" she said leaning into her sister as Yang wrapped her arm around her.

"What did she say Rubes?" she asked already having an idea as to what it was.

"She asked if we should go on another date next weekend, then she suddenly looked terrified and ran off leaving one of her shadow clones behind." she said trying to keep herself together but her voice was betraying her.

"Damn it Blake…I'm sorry Rubes this might be kind of my fault." Yang said with a sigh, "Blake came to me and asked what kind of things you enjoy doing. And I gave a few ideas, but she does like you Ruby I swear if I had known she would have reacted like this I would have said something.".

"She does? I didn't know…guess I'm not that observant am I? Some leader…" Ruby said dejectedly.

"Ruby stop that. Just because you couldn't see it doesn't mean you aren't a good leader. Blake really didn't want to ruin things between you in case you didn't feel the same way. But I'm guessing you do…" Yang got her answer when Ruby nodded.

"She's just so nice and we get along so well, I don't think we've ever raised our voices to each other. And when we cuddle up and read together it just feels right…" Ruby stopped when she saw Yang chuckling softly, "Yang this is serious!".

"Sorry, sis. But you two are perfect for each other…Bookworms in love." she chuckled much to Ruby's ire.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted, "Can you be serious about this? Is this all a joke to you?" she asked, tears forming in her eyes.

Yang quickly realised she had stepped over the line a little and certainly did not want to make her sister cry.

"Sorry Rubes, that was out of line. But seriously you two are good together and I don't think Blake would do anything like that on purpose, I think she just wasn't expecting to blurt it out like that." Yang said hoping that she had not gone beyond being forgiven.

"Please help me fix this Yang…" her sister begged as Yang went full big sister mode and promised that she would find Blake and bring her back so the two of them could talk in private.

Of course Ruby said she did not have to go that far but Yang told her to stay put and figure out what she was going to say to Blake when Yang brought her back.

* * *

Of course, Yang quickly found out that if Blake did not want to be found then she would not be easy to find.

She checked the places that Blake would usually go such as the library and the roof, but she could not find her anywhere, eventually, she had to call Blake repeatedly until she finally picked up.

"Hey Blakey. Where are you? I've been trying to get a hold of you." Yang said putting on a cheerful tone.

"That was clear by the fifteen missed calls on my scroll. I just want to have some time alone Yang, I'll see you later." Blake said sounding like she really was not in the mood to talk to anyone.

"I'm serious Blake, it's important…" Yang said calmly but firmly, getting her point across that she needed to talk to her friend, "Tell me where you are. I'll come to you.".

She thought Blake had hung up on her before she finally sighed and told her that she had been on the roof all along.

Heading back to the roof she found Blake waiting for her, with an expression telling Yang that she knew why she was looking for her.

"Blake…you need to go back to the dorm and talk to Ruby." she said deciding to go with the straightforward approach.

"I can't…I messed things up so bad all because I couldn't keep my mouth shut…" Blake said sounding like she had been beating herself up over the whole thing since she left the dorm.

"And what will you do exactly? Blake, we're here for four years. Are you going to avoid Ruby all that time? Look just talk to her please, you won't regret it Blake I swear." Yang pleaded to hope that things would not become awkward over the next few years between Blake and Ruby.

"I know that Yang…but what if I mess things up again…" Blake began to say but was cut off by Yang telling her off.

"Then you fix it! What? Don't you think you deserve to be happy? You two are head over heels for each other, it doesn't matter what happens as long as you two talk things through." Yang snapped.

Blake had to admit that Yang had a point, she had been beating herself up over what she had done and it would have better to just talk to Ruby instead of running like a coward. Then again that's what she seemed to do best.

Ruby looked up as Blake and Yang walked in through the door, Blake looking ashamed of herself and Yang looking relieved.

"Right…I'll leave you two to talk. I'll see if I can catch up with Weiss and keep her from barging in." Yang said before leaving the room again. Leaving the two in an awkward silence.

Both Blake and Ruby looked at each other, clearly unsure as to who should speak first, both wanted to speak but did not know what to say.

"Blake", "Ruby" both said at the same time only to stop and say for the other could speak.

"I'll go first, Ruby…I think its safe to say I have a lot more to say. On top of my apology for how I acted earlier. That was not how I should have reacted." Blake said having taken off her bow and showing that her ears were flat against her head.

"I shouldn't have run…but honestly that seems to be all I'm good at. Is running from things in my life, my parents…who I am." Blake explained, "Ruby…I've done things I'm not proud of, things that I don't think I can forgive myself for being a part of.".

"Okay, but that isn't who you are now. I know we haven't known each other long in the long term, but we've pretty much been together every single day in one form or another. We know a lot about each other and even our families, and to be honest Blake my parents would not have let you meet Luna if they didn't trust you." Ruby said trying to reassure Blake.

"But is that enough?" Blake asked.

"Sure. Blake my parents have been through so much, they are a great judge of character and will call you out if they think otherwise, or anything like that. And I trust you Blake, isn't that what's important?" Ruby asked.

"Ruby…I don't know…" Blake admitted sitting down on her bed, "I already feel like I'm walking on thin ice.".

Ruby sat down next to her and rested her head on her shoulder, "Blake just don't worry about it. You don't have to be like that around me, just no secrets anymore. It'll be a lot easier for both of us.".

"So…do you still want to go out?" Ruby asked after a moment of silence between them.

Blake could not help but be amazed at how forgiving Ruby was, even after she had run, but while she thought that she could be forgiven for running away she wondered if she could be forgiven for once being part of the White Fang.

"Sure…I'd love to…" Blake said hoping that those words would not come back to haunt her.

* * *

Well, this was meant to be up last week but ran into some issues. There is another new short-ish story coming out in a few days as well hopefully once I get everything checked out.

Finally, LadyBug is here and it has been somewhat of a run up to this so nothing out of the blue, from here it is going to hopefully open up some more alternate routes to go with the story.


	11. Chapter 11

Alright, I'm back and there is a little notice down at the bottom please check it out when you've finished the chapter. Thanks!

* * *

Ruby was cheerful enough that she doubted the day could actually go wrong in any particular way, she was happy enough enjoying the day out with her team. Though she was a little disappointed that her first official date with Blake would have to wait until later as Weiss had dragged them down to Vale.

Of course everyone wanted to do their own thing while they were out so they decided to turn it into a day together for their whole team, but Ruby already knew that Weiss's idea would likely take up most of the day since she had 'decided' to take it upon herself the welcome the other teams to Vale for the Vytal festival.

Or as Blake had said she just wanted to do it in order to get an advantage over the other teams. Something she had denied, poorly.

However what they had not been expecting was to come across a Dust robbery, it had been another in a number of robberies over the last two weeks. Whoever had been behind it clearly wanted a lot in a hurry, Ruby had suggested earlier that it could have been Torchwick since he had been after Dust when she first encountered him.

"I bet it was those White Fang nuts…" one officer said as they waited for the forensics crew to finish up.

"Why can't they just stop? I mean what good are they actually doing apart from making everyone hate Faunus more?" the other questioned.

"I hate those White Fang brutes. Nothing but a bunch of degenerates." Weiss said off hand as they headed towards the docks.

Ruby managed to calm Blake down as they walked behind her and Yang, she was not expecting Weiss to say something so blunt but the moment she took Blake's hand she calmed down.

"Weiss you know that's really offensive…" Ruby said as Weiss stopped in her tracks and turned around to face Ruby.

"Ruby…you know my time growing up wasn't exactly what you would call enjoyable. On top of the high standards that were placed upon me by my father, he had to deal with the more radical elements of the White Fang and other groups made a target of my family." Weiss explained taking a moment before carrying on.

"This included Dust robberies, sabotage, abductions and even disappearances …people I knew went missing and were never heard from again. This made my father furious…and I was the only outlet since he would never raise a hand to Whitney, his perfect child…It made for a terrifying experience growing up." Weiss was about to say more but turned around and carried on to the docks.

"Well, that happened…" Yang said, not expecting such a speech from Weiss.

"I don't think anyone would have seen that coming. I mean I don't condone what the White Fang have done since they have turned to follow Adam, but I didn't know Weiss had such…an asshole of a father." Blake said aloud.

"Well…maybe you should tell her Blake? I mean now might not be the best time but maybe you should." Yang said.

"I guess we did all agree to be honest with each other when she found out that Professor Frost is Ruby's father." Blake sighed, not looking forward to the whole up and coming conversation with Weiss.

However, it seemed that fate would throw a spanner into the works.

* * *

Shortly after arriving they encountered a monkey Faunus who had stored away on a boat and Weiss had made another comment about the White Fang and it had slipped onto another comment on Faunus. Before she could apologize Blake had snapped saying that maybe they were getting sick of pushed around and abused by her father.

Blake realised what she had said and turned and ran. Ruby called out to her before trying to follow only to bump into a ginger haired girl.

"Yang…am I really that bad of a person?" Weiss asked.

"No Weiss. Your not but I think you both need to sit down and talk about this. While you could have worded it better I don't think you're in the wrong, considering what you said to us earlier about your childhood." Yang said trying to cheer up her partner.

"But we've come so far as a team and I'm the one to just throw all that away because of bad habits…" Weiss was close to breaking down as Yang drew her into a hug.

"Just chill out Weiss. Ruby is still looking for Blake, hopefully, she's calmed down, all we've got to do is find her and sit down and talk and we're all besties again." Yang said, the ever-present smile making Weiss feel a little better.

"I guess if there is anyone that can talk to Blake then it's Ruby, those two try to hide it but they really do like each other. How long do you think before they ask each other out?" Weiss asked trying to change the conversation to something a little more cheerful.

"You noticed it too?" Yang asked getting a nod from her partner.

"Blake thinks she's hiding it but it's clear as the smut she pretends not to read." Weiss sighed before chuckling, "We really are a completely random team aren't we?".

"Yes…but that's what makes us great. We can bounce off each other, cover each other's weak spots and help each other when someone needs picking up." Yang said hugging Weiss again, only this time she did not notice the pink blush creeping up her cheeks.

* * *

Ruby was a little confused at her new 'friend' she was nice enough, she wasn't mad or anything but she was, quirky.

"Penny are you sure this is the right way? I really need to find Blake." Ruby asked as she was guided along the streets of Vale by Penny. And while Ruby was happy to make a new friend she really was beginning to worry about Blake.

"Is she close to you new friend Ruby? You seem to care about her a lot?" Penny questioned, going as far as to tilt her head slightly to the side.

"She is Penny and I do care about her. She was really upset earlier and I would at least like to know if she is alright." Ruby explained only for Penny to announce that they would find her together.

It felt like she had been dragged all over Vale and by the mid-afternoon, Ruby was beginning to think that they would not find Blake.

"Are you alright Ruby?" Penny asked seeing that Ruby was beginning to look tired.

"Yeah…I'm fine, guess hoping that we would find Blake would be a little too much to ask for." Ruby sighed not wanting to give up but coming to the realisation that finding one person in an entire city was going to be close to impossible.

"Fear not Ruby we can still find…" Penny trailed off when she looked over Ruby's shoulder and saw two Atlas soldiers at the other end of the street, and she knew who they were.

"We'll find Blake down here…" she said pulling Ruby off down into an alley.

"Wait, Penny. Where are we going?" Ruby asked suddenly noticing how strong Penny's grip was.

"Penny, stop." Ruby said stopping, "Penny what is going on? That's the second time you've done that, what is going on?".

"Ruby…I can't tell you. I'm sorry. But all I want to do is have some time to myself but my father, he works with the Atlas military, they have been my escorts for the time I'm here. I just wanted to explore by myself…" Penny admitted.

"Penny…" Ruby started to say saw two Atlas soldiers enter the alley, but had yet to see them as Penny was out of their line of sight, "Quick in here." she said opening a thankfully empty dumpster as Penny hopped in and waited as the two soldiers walked past. Seeing just Ruby typing away on her scroll.

"Alright their gone Penny, sorry you had to go in the dumpster." Ruby said helping Penny out of her hiding spot.

"Thank you Ruby…you know you could get into a lot of trouble, I don't want to put you in that position." Penny said not wanting to get her new friend into trouble with Atlas.

"It's fine Penny, happy to help. Come on let's go." she said heading in the opposite way the Atlas soldiers had gone.

However, as they were about to cross the street only Penny saw the truck in time.

* * *

"This has got to be a joke…" Eli sighed looking at the large Atlas warship floating above Vale, "Did you tell him Oz? Please tell me you did.".

"I'm afraid James decided to take matters into his own hands. I will tell him to move his ship elsewhere, I will not have that…thing looming over Vale." Ozpin said, knowing that its current location over the city would cause untold devastation if it was to crash.

"It does seem a little out of character that he would simply ignore you like that. You know all things considered." Glynda pondered, knowing that Ironwood was not the sort to simply dismiss the opinions of others.

"Well just hope he listens. Heard the council is already trying to sooth some rustled feathers, having that bucket of scrap up there just makes things worse." Eli said not taking his eyes off the floating ship.

"He did mention that he had something important to speak to us about. He failed to mention what it was but he said we would be interested." Ozpin explained but since he had yet to hear back from the general he could not be sure.

"Well that's just wonderful, isn't it? But my guess he's moving in his army for protection during the Vytal festival." Eli said rolling his eyes and getting a chuckle from Glynda.

"No, it's not that Eli, he said the Atlas presence would be at a minimum so that people would just feel safe rather than like they're getting invaded." Ozpin said, not wanting Eli to jump to a conclusion that would set them all up for another argument about Ironwood's choice in security.

"Yeah…and the giant floating ship doesn't do that? He could at least move it over the damn docks rather than floating over downtown." Eli sighed.

Eli heard his scroll go off and told Ozpin that he had to duck out for a minute, but Ozpin said they did not have anything else to talk about until Ironwood's meeting in the morning.

Stepping into the elevator he started down and called Summer on his scroll, responding to her message.

"Summer what's wrong?" he asked.

"Eli…are you free? I really need to speak with you, I'm in Vale at the moment…" Summer said sounding like she had been panicking.

"Sure where are you? Is everything alright? You sound… frightened." Eli asked concerned that something was happening to Summer.

"I'll…I'll explain when you get here…please hurry." she gave him the location and hung up, leaving Eli wondering what the hell was happening.

He fired off a quick message to Glynda saying that he was stepping out for a while and that he would not be on the academy grounds.

Reaching the small café that they had often enjoyed during their many dates whenever they were in Vale he saw her sitting outside on one of the tables and waiting for him.

"Summer, are you alright?" he asked sitting down, taking her hand in his own.

"No…" she said, her eyes visibly red from where she had been crying, "He knows where I am…".

"Who?" he questioned.

"My father…I thought I had cut all ties with him but I got this in the mail this morning." Summer handed over the letter that she had received and Eli began to read it.

"Summer…it seems that this is just him reaching out to you. Am I missing something?" he asked seeing nothing that stood out as malicious or deceitful.

Summer took a moment before speaking, "Do you remember those scars I have at the base of my spine? The ones that look like lash marks, but I said it was a burn…" Summer could not meet her husband's eyes, she was too ashamed.

"Are you saying he did that?" he asked getting a slow nod, "Why?".

"He was trying to force out my semblance…he called it training. But when the chance to go to Beacon came up I left, travelled around Vale for a while before I enrolled in Beacon. I just wanted to get away…" she tried so hard not to cry at all the painful memories that had been creeping their way to the surface.

"How long had he been doing it?" Eli asked, his voice betraying his barely controlled anger towards the man.

"Four years…" Eli moved and wrapped her up in a hug, and she wrapped her arms around him and did not want to let go.

"Just say it Summer and I'll make sure he doesn't come anywhere near us or the girls." Eli said firmly, while inside he was raging, he had never been a hundred per cent certain on Summer's story for her scars but had not questioned it.

"Eli, the man is a liar and a monster…I don't care what he says I do not want him near me or the girls. I'm actually terrified at what he'd do to Luna…I've been terrified at this happening but didn't say anything." Summer said not letting go of her husband, "Eli…please keep him away from us.".

Eli was tempted to ask where he was so he could pay him a visit, but something stuck out about what Summer had said.

"What do you mean about Luna? Wait…he doesn't like Faunus does he?" he asked carefully.

"No…he doesn't. I really hoped he would just leave me alone. Before I left I had a massive argument with him and told him to rot in hell…" Summer explained, "He bellowed that I was no longer his daughter and I said that was fine with me…".

"I never thought about what would happen if he ever reached out but I never wanted to actually deal with it…I guess I just wanted it to all just disappear. Hoping that he would just leave me alone." Summer let out a sigh as she nuzzled further into Eli's hug.

"Summer…what about your mother? You never actually told me about her." Eli wondered.

"She died shortly before my tenth birthday…at first, I thought he would try to make sure I was safe and happy but it was like he just didn't care. Once my training started it was like he was happy to make me as miserable as possible." she looked at him and gave him a sad smile, "I know you would have liked my mother, she would have gushed over how handsome you are and made a fuss of the girls.".

"Come on let's get you back home, I think Ozpin will understand me taking the afternoon off." wrapping his arm around Summer they began the walk back to the transport terminal back to Patch.

* * *

"So let me get this straight, Summer's father who is far from the nicest person wants to meet her in a few weeks time?" Tai asked later that night before Eli returned to Beacon.

"Yeah, pretty much the sum of it. And from what she said he's a monster, I don't know if he has changed but until I find out I'd rather have him stay away from Summer…" Eli said wondering if what he was deciding to do was the right thing or not.

"So you're going to take the last few days you have left to go and talk to him, even though he apparently hates Faunus." Tai asked.

"Well, it's not like I haven't heard everything before. Besides if he doesn't want to talk then fine, but I'm going looking for trouble. I'm going to explain things to him and what he does is up to him. But if he harms Summer, Luna or Ruby then he'll regret his life choices very quickly.".

"You'd use your semblance wouldn't you?" Tai wondered, hoping Eli would not but he was not going to be able to stop him at the end of the day.

"I'd like to avoid using it but it all comes down to how aggressive he becomes. All I want to do is talk, bare in mind I'm a teacher at Beacon. I start beating random people senseless I'll be up a certain creek without a paddle." Eli sighed checking the time on his scroll, "I'd better get sorted, my flight heads out in just over an hour…".

"Well, I guess all I can say is don't do anything rash and stay safe." Tai said, "I'm going to turn in.".

Eli waved him goodnight and went back to checking his flight times.

"Gabriel Rose…I really hope Summer is wrong about you. Because I'd hate to break your jaw if you say something to hurt my girls." he mumbled looking at the data he was able to pull up about the man.

* * *

It was early morning when the Bullhead landed in some small town in the northern edge of Vale. Eli had decided to wear a woolly hat not only to protect his ears from the cold winds but he did not want to start a shouting match with Gabriel because of his ears.

"Well, this is going to be good…" Eli mumbled to himself as he headed towards the house of the man he had a few questions for, he had gotten directions from some of the townsfolk, some of which did not seem to hold Gabriel in high regards.

It did not take long for him to find himself standing outside the front door of a rather simple looking house that would not stand out in the slightest.

"Gabriel?" he called out knocking on the door, "Are you in there!?".

He heard some movement and slowly the door opened, revealing a grizzled looking man with a dull grey beard and fading black hair.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" he asked, or rather demanded.

"My name is Eli, I'm here in regards to the letter you sent Summer." he said carefully.

"Is she alright? Is she here?" he asked opening the door and looking around outside.

"No…but as I said it's about the letter you sent her." Eli said but asked if he could come in and explain the situation.

The inside of the house was Spartan but still had a few homely items littered about, but seeing how he was the only one living there it made sense.

"So you've come all the way from Vale to see me, why couldn't Summer come with you?" Gabriel asked sitting down on a chair next to the fireplace as Eli sat opposite.

"Well I'll be straight to the point, she's terrified of you. I think you know why but I would rather talk this through face to face." Eli explained, "She does not want you anywhere near her or her family. However, I was hoping you are a changed man so I came out here to try and reassure her.".

"And who are you to her? Who are you to my daughter?" Gabriel asked only for Eli to hold up his hand with the wedding ring.

"I see…so do I have grandchildren?" he asked taking in the new information, but Eli was not going to give the information so easily.

"You might…but at the moment I want to put Summer at ease. So I want to know why you did what you did…" Eli said firmly but calmly.

"She told you then?" he asked not sounding apologetic at all.

"I only found out the other day, but that does not give the right to do that to her…she relied on you and you scared her for life, aura doesn't heal that sort of damage at an early age." Eli said, doing his best to keep himself calm.

"She had to learn how to survive, didn't do her mother much good being soft. So I did what I had to do to make her strong." Gabriel explained.

"She is already strong, being a caring person isn't a weakness. She did not need your so-called training to get where she is today. She is a wonderful mother and one of the best huntresses's I have ever seen, very few people would dance with a Nevermore before killing it." Eli said proudly.

"You know I came up here hoping that she was worrying over nothing but going on what you've said it seems I've wasted a trip…" Eli said getting to his feet to leave, "She is scared of you, so I will ask you this one thing. Stay away from her…".

"How dare you tell me that! I will see her and you can't stop me!" Gabriel roared getting to his feet only to freeze when he saw Eli's semblance leaking off him.

"I came here after I promised not to fight, I would rather not break that promise but I will defend myself so I would take the hint that Summer does not want you near her for the time being." Eli said only for Gabriel to get in front of him.

"I did my research on you before coming here, you were a registered hunter before you drank yourself into a hole before finally going clean again. The was a rumour floating around that you were put onto the blacklist but your name isn't on it." Eli said as he went to walk around Gabriel only for him to grab his wrist.

"I don't know how you got that information but it was meant to be in a sealed file." he sneered.

"Consider it unsealed. Now, are you going to let me leave?" Eli asked, not making it sound threatening but guessed that Gabriel would be more than happy to make things difficult for him.

"Fine…get the hell out and hope that I never see you again. One way or another I'll get Summer…" he did not get to finish as Eli pinned him to the wall.

"I'd drop the threatening tone if I were you, that is my wife after all…" Eli growled, "I'll say this one last time if you want to speak to Summer than she will reach out to you. You don't have a say in this Gabriel, leave Summer alone." letting him go he left without a word.

* * *

Summer knew where Eli had gone. It was not hard for her to figure it out as when she awoke she found her bed empty.

At first she had been concerned about what he would do to her father when she had chosen to tell him but she was positive that Eli would not do anything rash.

"I still can't believe he went in the first place though. But then again I guess that's just how he is…always protecting those around him…" she sighed knowing that her husband was in trouble but knew that she could not exactly be mad at him either for doing it. After everything he had been through over the years, he did not want to lose it.

"Silly man…" she said smiling as the door opened and sure enough her husband walked through looking frustrated.

"How'd it go?" she asked wondering if she was looking at seeing her father storm in behind him.

"He…really did not sound sorry for what he did. Tried talking to him but he just went on the defensive, he said before I left that he would get you…Don't know what was going through his head." Eli sighed as he sat down, "But I told him not to contact you…said that you'll only contact him when your ready but he tried to manhandle me a bit. Didn't hurt him though…".

"Am I a bad person to say that I wish you had…" Summer asked as Eli wrapped his arm around her.

"No. Considering what he's done. You'd be within your right to, but you wouldn't." Eli said getting a curious look from Summer, "It's not in your nature to be vengeful Summer, you're the person who puts everything aside to help someone. You always make time for our kids, something that I really need to put more time into…" Eli said knowing that he had barely seen Luna in the last month, and it really got to him but with everything that has been going on he hasn't had much time to himself let alone going to spend time with his family.

"Come here, you big softy…" Summer said pulling him into a hug.

Alright…a few things to talk about.

* * *

First of all let me apologize, again, for the lack of content over the last two months. Not my intention. But my trusty laptop finally waved a little white flag and gave up the ghost. Sadly taking all my future chapters with it, with this series and several others I'm working on.

(Before I could back everything up before anyone says anything. I usually do it in chunks rather than every time I write something.)

So I sent it away and its been somewhat refurbished, but the guy said its only a matter of time before it gives out again. I'm looking at other options but money has been tricky since it's the slow period at work.

So where does that leave this story? Well, it's still going, I'm not going to stop doing this story until its done. But seeing how the next three chapters I had planned out are in the wind I thought about doing something a little different. Is there anything that you the reader would like to see?

I want to do something because this series has done surprisingly well and people like it well enough and I wanted to do something that shows that I am thankful for the interest in this story.

But I am hoping to get the next chapter up within the month, as well as a little short story which goes with something different than what I usually write. But until then, I hope people haven't forgotten about this story and if you have I apologize for being so late.


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